Don't Let Fear Paralyze You!

It seems to me that one of the greatest obstacles in our lives is one simple four letter word; fear! It has been said that we are born with only two fears, the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. If that is true, then we must conclude that every other fear is a "learned" fear.

Remember when we wouldnt hesistate to lift our hand and ask a question in school? Now we hesistate to ask a question for fear of appearing weak!  Remember when we would make friends so easily in school, and now we have a hard time speaking to a stranger in the elevator?

Fear is a funny thing. It seems that the older we get, the more fear we have in our lives. Fear of failing, fear of not having enough money, on and on our fears go.  I'm reminded of a Bible verse. Whether you believe in the Bible or not, this could apply to your life in one way or another. 1 Peter 5: 8 says, " Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." We all have enemies in our lives. We all have people who want to destroy our lives, or see us fail at the very least. How we react to these enemies can be the diference between sucess or failure. It is well known that in the animal kingdom, a lion simply needs to roar and fear will spread amongst the weaker species. The lion does not have to be near them, or even pose an immediate threat for them to feel fear.

So, who or what are the enemies that are striking fear in your life? Are you allowing the loud roar of a naysayer, a hater, a critic, or a flat out enemy to plant fear in your life? Is fear keeping you from starting a new business, accepting a new position, getting married, or leaving an abusive relationship? How many more opportunities will pass you by before you stop letting fear paralyze you?

Today, you can stand up to fear, stand up to those critics and naysayers and, as Nike so plainly put it, "Just Do it"! Go start the business, pack up and move to the city you have longed to move to. Go skydive. Go do whatever it is that "they" said you couldnt do! Don't let fear paralyze you and stop you from acheiving greatness, and becoming who you were created to be!

New Years Resolutions Gone Bad!

Happy New Year!  So, a whole week has gone by in the year 2013.  Usually by this time, the resolutions I have made have long been broken, revised, or not even started.  This year I decided to do things a bit differently.  Too often I would focus on all the different areas of my life that I needed to improve on, and would resolve to improve all of them.  It hasn't worked before, so I was pretty sure 2013 would be no different.

So, this year, I resolved to just focus on two things:

1. Work on little things that are easy to do and don't require much work.  Simple things like making my desk look clean at the end of the night, even if the pile I put it all in is a mess!  Not leaving junk in the car  is another easy thing that takes little work, but if not done, can lead to a car that slightly resembles a swap meet.

2.  I decided to focus on my weight for the entire year of 2013.  I'm going to walk/run/bike when I can.  Instead of a soda, maybe grab a water once in awhile. I have already started doing some squats and pushups.  I may even just order a single instead of a Double Double at In-Out.  Ok, who am I kidding?

I wont ignore the other areas of my life that need improvement, but I will focus on my weight and try and put most of my energy towards that.  It may not work, but if it does, I'm sure I will feel better, look better, and will be healthier than I am right now.

Care to join me?  Just try and find something in your life that needs to be fixed and lets give it a shot!  After all, while I hope we succeed, if we don't, we can always try again in January of 2014!