Last year my One Word was Fearless. Even if it wasn’t your “word”, it clearly struck a cord with many of you.
I’d really like to say, “Fear shmear! Puh-lease! We’ve dealt with you and we’re so done! Shaking the fear dust off our feet! Moving on!”
Unfortunately, like bad hair days and weeds, it can keep showing up. What’s a current fear of yours? Is it a risk in business? A parenting decision? A move or change?
Recently as daughter Maggie was getting ready to head to northern Uganda she was researching snakes – a phobia we both share.
She texted me asking if I thought mace would deter a Black Mamba. I said I thought it might just make him angrier. Her husband, Austin did research and assured her that she’d have 20 minutes to find an antidote (in the middle of nowhere) before she died. And then this:
So, she’s got that advice in her hip pocket.
But a fear of mine, not as dramatic as snakes, has been plaguing me recently – fear of technology.
Laura to technology is like the Cubs to baseball. #Fail. And I HATE making mistakes!
Recently it was creating and trying to figure out how to embed a survey that loomed large. Now on the other side of it, I am trying to reflect on what I’m learning about facing fears, especially when I feel inadequate. Here are a few of my learnings. I’d love to hear yours!
1. Study. Like Maggie googling snakes in Africa, the more I can learn about something the better off I’ll be. Frankly that’s a pain with technology because I’d prefer to have someone sit down and show me, but instead I had to google tutorials. Still, it paid off. Knowledge is power. Or a tiny bit of courage.
2. Ask, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” For me the worst that could happen did. A wrong button was hit and those of you who subscribe received an empty post. How humiliating! (Again, I HATE appearing incompetent). But was it as catastrophic as the apocalypse? No. You guys are a forgiving lot and I dusted myself off and tried again.
3. Identify the benefits of failure. Often the fear is worse than the thing itself. There can be huge growth, relief, and pride on the other side of walking through our fears, even if temporary failure is part of the deal.
I don’t just fear technology, I basically hate it. It’s detail-y and scienc-y and science is close to math and we all know I don’t do math, so it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to MAKE myself do any projects involving technology. But that discipline pays off in learning new skills, and diminished fear for the future.
4. Pray. (You figure I had to put that one in, eh?). Honestly my prayers regarding my fears are usually an inarticulate “Helpmehelpmehelpme!”. I’m learning I’m better off if I pray scripture – either paying attention and praying for the character qualities of those in the Bible who face their fears – like Daniel, Joseph, and Nehemiah, or claiming God’s promises of His presence and guidance.
So, what’s a current fear of yours? What are you learning?
