Tag: Fear

“You have to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side” – Poppa

December 2, 2015

That was a quote from Poppa, the father dinosaur from the movie, The Good Dinosaur.  We took the kids to see the movie last Sunday, our last day of the wonderful Thanksgiving weekend we had.  I wanted to have something fun planned for each day that we had off. It was a fantastic weekend!

The movie was full of emotions!  On our way our of the theater my son and I were talking about how the movie was like Inside Out because we felt every emotion during The Good Dinosaur – sad, happy, fear, disgust and anger.  It was yet another hit from Disney Pixar.

That one particular quote was said close to the beginning of the movie and as soon as Poppa said it I immediately wanted to write it down.  As I thought about it over the past few days it really ties into many elements of my life.  One in particular that I can recall is last December with my job.  My co-worker was going on a 3 week vacation from work and we preparing me to handle all of the accounts while she was out.  But she was always going to be available for me should I need to reach out to her.  But this was my chance to spread my wings a little more and stand on my own two feet.  I recall specifically one account with a person that Heidi worked with primarily.  I had very little to almost no contact with this person and the site they worked on.  Her name is Ellen.  Now Ellen is one of my favorite clients to work with.

So when Heidi left and Ellen reached out to me with a question, fear set in.  I was afraid of the type of work that needed to be done for Ellen’s account.  I was still learning some things and wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to deliver the standard of support that Heidi delivered to Ellen.  Well I did my best and was able to give Ellen what she needed (with some gentle guidance from Heidi).  I pushed past my fear and learned some new things.

In my running life I have fear.  Anytime I am at a race there is that rush you feel prior to the race, sometimes up to 3 or 4 days for a marathon.  But I don’t know what the fear is, specifically.  I always finish, so I can’t say that it is about failing.  I know how to be smart about my training to avoid injury, so I haven’t gotten injured in a race.  So what is the fear?  Is it just part of the process when doing races?  Fear to give you the edge you need to push yourself a little harder and go a little longer when training?

I know for sure, that when I have a long training run on my schedule I get anxious.  I think it is the fear that I am going to be out on the roads alone for such a long time and that I am doing something that many “normal” people don’t do.  But once I am done and I am showered and refueled and refreshed I do see the beauty on the other side.  I have those miles behind me and I accomplished another feat.

The movie had a lot of great learning points in it.  I will give a more general review of the movie in another post, but I wanted to share the point that struck me the most within the first 10 minutes of the movie.

poppa

Did you see The Good Dinosaur?  What did you think of the movie?

First Step To Reaching Your Dream

July 17, 2014

I seem to be on a dream theme these days. I came across The Dreamers Podcast from Joe Pardo, which I had the pleasure to be a guest of on his show (coming soon); and also the Dream Warriors Podcast from Doc Kennedy and they have been very inspiring.  Today 59 years ago, one man had a dream that he made come true even when no one believed in it – Disneyland was born.  Walt is known for pursuing our dreams – “If you can dream it, you can do it”.

While listening to Doc’s podcasts today I got something out if it that I appreciated. In order for your dream to come true, you have to take the first step.  What great advice, but sometimes that first step feels like you are walking off a cliff. It doesn’t have to. Try taking baby steps.

Your first steps can be:

– To sign up for a class
– Attend a seminar
– Get books about the subject you are interested in
– Listen to podcasts related to the topic

As you educate yourself in the field you are interested in you will gain confidence.  Facing a new dream takes courage and risk.  Sometimes the fear of the unknown is why our dreams never come true.  Sometimes you need to give up things in order to achieve your goal.  But if it is that important to you, the end result will mean more and you may have no regret for the things you gave up.

It could be as simple as this… you want to run your first 5K.  So what would you have to give up to meet such a goal?  Well, you may have to give up a little sleep on a Saturday morning in the summer so you can get out and run in the early morning hours when it is cooler.  What’s more important to you, the sleep or working towards your first race finish?

Another road block towards reaching your dream is usually fear.  You are afraid of the unknowns and the what ifs.  If you let fear get in your way and paralyze you, you will never reach your dreams.  For instance, if you were working toward that new finish line (a further distance or your first race) you need to think of what those fears are and talk yourself through them.  What if I get hurt going further, what if I can’t finish, what if the weather is bad on race day.  I’ve had many of those things actually happen to me during training and on race day, but you learn from it and it makes you a better achiever.

I came across this quote from Anaïs Nin which said:

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

 

Very powerful quote for me.  Take your first steps.  What have you got to lose?  You may lose something, but what you will gain will be so much greater!  I know I am so scared of the Dopey challenge this January, but when I cross the finish line on January 11, 2015 I am going to be so proud of my accomplishment!  I also hope that during this process my children will see that I set my goal, worked hard for it and achieved it regardless of the fears and concerns that I faced during the way.

I am also afraid of my first sprint tri that I will be participating in on September 7.  But I am making the effort to get in more swimming this summer and have to get back on the bike again (I have been lacking since May).  But I will go for it.  If I fail, I fail, but I will feel better for giving it a shot.

What is your dream or goal?  What fears are holding you back from achieving them?

 

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