Have you ever noticed that fear is like a ferris wheel?

Making trip from the ground to the sky, we sit in a carriage seat of fear’s wheel while quietly observing everything around us. We think we are safe up high from all we see.

But in reality we are shutting ourselves off from fear itself by allowing it to master us.

Why?

Why do we internally shut ourselves off, and continue to ride round-and-round with such passive emotion letting fear get the best of us?

Because it’s one of the most comfortable spots for us to sit.

The ferris wheel of fear is alluring and safe. It’s a familiar place where we feel we are in control.

We expect the wheel to go up.

We expect the wheel to go down.

We expect the wheel to go around.

What we don’t realize is that what we believe about fear is a lie.

Fear is not fun. Fear is not keeping us safe.

It might seem to offer a nice ride with swinging seats, fresh air and a view, but it hinders us from exploring who we are meant to be.

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

~ e. e. cummings.

cummings is right.

We cannot have courage to be who we were designed to be when we embrace a life lived in fear. We just can’t. It is impossible.

Courage says,

“You have legs to run! You have a heart full of dreams! You have a world to share yourself with!”

But fear screams back to us,

“You might get hurt. You might fail. You won’t be good enough. You won’t fit in. You won’t be happy out there.”

Fear says,

“No! Don’t hop off my ride, it’s dangerous.”

You know what? It is dangerous to live, to let go of fear. But what is even more dangerous is for us to never break free or explore what we’ve seen from the top.

We know there’s more out there waiting for us. After all, we’ve had plenty of time to spin around and see the sites from up high.

Fear might be something that will rear its ugly head and try and chase us down for the rest of our life.

The beautiful thing is that we have the choice to resist it is taunting.

Whenever fear tempts us with subtle whispers and sweet lies, we must put on courage like wings and fly forward into the distant, open sky. We must believe the brilliant transparency that illuminates from courage, as it shows our heart that so much more is possible.

We have a choice to let fear or courage fuel our flight.

We have the choice to look beyond our safe haven.

We have a choice to grow.

The next time you are faced with fear, envision a ferris wheel. Imagine yourself pulling up the safety bar and jumping out to live an adventure with courage!

Life is too short to stay comfortable.

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Assistant Editor: Jes Wright/Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photo Credit: Allie Oliver-Burns (aka PoseMaikin)