get fear out of your mind

Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion aroused by impending danger, or pain. Everyone has feared something at least once in their lives, it is human nature from the second you are born. Though it is only known that you are born with the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises, many people experience many more fears than that in their lifetime. How many times have you decided not to go through with something because you were worried about the outcome? Have you ever deterred yourself from doing something you have always wanted to try because you were scared? Well, I can tell you that I sure have! It truly is human nature to be fearful of certain situations or outcomes. Everyone experiences fear and it is nothing to be ashamed of. But what does fear really do for us besides protecting us from harm through natural instinct? Does it help us become the best versions of ourselves? The answer is no. Besides providing an instinct for things that could physically harm us, fear does not help us. I have been a runner for as long as I can remember, I even wrote about running in P.E. class in the first grade! Still, with having over 13 years of experience under my belt and overcoming so many issues over the years, there are times where I fear running. Sometimes I fear how I will feel during or after my run, sometimes I fear letting myself or others down, and sometimes I fear just not performing as well as I’d hoped even if I didn’t have any expectations of myself. One of my most memorable stories relating to this irrational fear of not performing as well as I had hoped occurred when I was a freshman in high school. It was the end of the year, at the state meet and I had set myself up for success in several events. Earlier in the meet I had already taken 4th in the 800m and 6th in the 1600m and ran in the 400m, all I had left to race was the 3200m and the 4x4 relay. I was not worried about the relay because I knew I would perform well no matter what, but I was scared to run the 3200. It was not my strongest event, and I wasn’t ranked in it, so I had no reason to be worried because I just needed to run it. I didn’t have any expectations for myself going into the race, I just knew that I had to do it. I got on the line, and I was so fearful of the most absurd things like that my shoelaces would magically untie, or I would get disqualified if I accidentally stepped on the line. The gun went off and none of those things occurred. I did not place in the race, but I did finish it, proving to myself that I could do it, even after all of my other events that day. I realized that I had nothing to fear all along. I was proud of myself and so was my family and that was all that mattered. If I had not been fearful of my race in the first place, I could have avoided feeling so anxious and worried about the outcome of my race. When in reality, the only thing that mattered was if I was satisfied with what I had done. So, get fear out of your mind... try something new, try something fearful!