Too Scary To Write About?

I've committed to participating in #Trust30, an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Each day you get a new message/task and can write about it in a journal, in a blog, on Twitter, even Facebook as long as you write something.

Afraid to Do by Mary Jaksch

The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson says: “Always do what you are afraid to do.” What is ‘too scary’ to write about? Try doing it now.

(Author: Mary Jaksch)

Man, I'm really struggling with this one. I have no idea what "too scary to write about" means. I'm afraid of axe murderers but they're not too scary to write about. Ditto, snakes, spiders and horses. I even read about 10 posts from others on today's prompt and still don't have a clue what to write.

I don't think I have any fears that are out of the ordinary ones (yes, I think you should be afraid of axe murderers, they are murderers after all). I fear failure, I fear disappointing people, I fear looking foolish (but only when I'm trying to look serious), I fear change, I fear situations where there's the potential for physical harm, I fear confrontation and I greatly fear the next time I lose a friend or family member because that pain is not going away for me as time goes by.

Do I always do what I'm afraid to do? No. I'm not going to go pet a snake just to prove I can. Should I do some of what I'm afraid to do? Sure. Especially when it comes to change. I'm a status quo type and I should be more willing to take risks.

But, do I let fear control my life? I don't think so. It's a pretty full and fulfilling life and, while there are missed opportunities, I still manage to have a damn good time.

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