Janet Sumner Johnson
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Conquering Fears

Jan

13, 2020 |

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Over the holiday break, my boys and I had a chance to do some rock climbing on a climbing wall. You pull on the harness. They clip you in. You choose “Easy,” “Medium,” or “Hard.” And off you go.

It sounds so simple, and really, the wall isn’t that high. But about halfway up, I caught a glimpse of the down. I had to refocus myself on simply finding the next handhold. Conquering my fears one step at a time.

Conquering FearsMy 13-yo got to just about the same point when he called down, “I think I have to come down!” He’d hit that same wall. But he didn’t know how to get past it.

Now, I knew he was safe. He was buckled in. The rope and mechanisms would catch him if he fell. I’d already done it myself, and I knew he could do it.

So I called to him, “Keep going! You’re almost there. You can do this!”

And he did. He made it to the top. Pressed the buzzer in proof, then rappelled down to safety. Man, was that kid proud of himself!” He had faced down his fears and come out the other side as the conquering hero. There is something truly empowering in that.
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Fear is a real thing. It can take hold of our minds and hearts, and can physically make us ill. It can keep us from doing the things we want to do, or from even trying to accomplish the things we want to accomplish. It whispers in our ears:
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You aren’t good enough.
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That is too hard for you.

You should stick to what you know.

But those are lies. If we refocus ourselves, take things one step at a time, and stop thinking about those fears, we can conquer them! Maybe not on our first try, but if we keep trying, it will happen.

Sometimes we need outside support, and that’s okay! That’s why you should surround yourself with people who build you up. People who believe in you. People who can see things from a different perspective. Find those people! Search them out, then hold them close. I know it’s made a huge difference in my life.

Conquering fears is hard. It can be scary. It can take time. LOTS of it! But I tell you what, that feeling you get when you finally make it is worth it.

Remember.

You ARE good enough!

Nothing is too hard if you’re determined.

Learning new things is amazing!

What fears are you hoping to conquer?

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Signs

Sep

03, 2010 |

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I so wanted a picture for this blog, but alas, you’ll have to deal with my crappy artwork.

On vacation, we planned to meet up with my brother to do some rock climbing. We were supposed to connect in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Off we drive, until we see this sign.

So if you saw this sign, which direction would you go to get to Big Cottonwood Canyon? If you guessed straight, you’d be wrong.

I know, right? So we spent about an hour on a wild goose chase, dodging bikers in the middle of a race, pulling over so our kids could go to the bathroom find a bush. Not so fun.

We debated just abandoning the plan and skipping out on the rock climbing, but gritting our teeth, we finally made our way to the right place. And I have to say, it was totally worth it. The kids LOVED it. Even my 3 year old loved it, and he never got much higher than my head.

Point? You want a point? *Deep breath* Sometimes writing is like this. We do our best to follow the signs (blogs, interviews, publishing books, whatever), but still, things don’t turn out the way we think they should. But giving up? Definitely not the best option.

So when’s the last time you had to take a deep breath, and just force yourself to keep going?

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