Fear is often described as false evidence appearing real. They say 90% of what people worry about never happens — some say it’s even higher. So you worry for nothing. And the same thing kind of goes for fear too. The things you are most afraid of very often turn out to be the things you least needed to be afraid of.
Fear has two meanings: forget everything and run, or face everything and rise. But you always have the choice.
Now, my biggest fear these days, believe it or not, is sitting here talking to you on this video. I have been putting this off for three years because of fear. I’ve talked in front of other people before, but this just really held me. So now I am facing this fear big time. But I know I’m going to come out the other side, and you arent going to be able to shut me up in the future.
A couple of things Ive done in my life that I was really afraid of one of them was rappelling down a hundred-foot cliff. You’re going down on a rope, and there are people holding the rope at the bottom so you don’t slip. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of. But when I got out to that little ledge area, I couldn’t see anybody above me or down below. That was scary. I stayed there for a while, got talked into going, and went down. The exhilaration I felt by achieving that — I still remember. I can always say I did it.
Another thing I was afraid of was a hot air balloon ride. I got a last-minute invitation from my boss at the Cadillac dealership during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. He was standing there with the pilot of the official Cadillac balloon and said, “Hey, teri, you want to go up?” I didn’t have time to talk myself out of it. That was a good thing.
We went up in the second wave. Albuquerque already sits at about 5,000 feet, and looking up I could see the baskets and colors from the wave before us. Looking down, balloons were still being inflated on the ground — a world of nothing but color. It was a wonderful 15, 20-minute ride.
Because it was a commercial balloon, they couldn’t do the tradition of pouring champagne over you after your first flight. Instead we got a little Cadillac champagne flute, and we drank champagne out of that. This was back in 1992, I think, and I still have that glass. Every time I use it, I’m glad I didn’t let fear stop me.
As people get older, they tend to get more fearful — and getting older also gives you memories like these: something you didnt think you could do, and you did it, and it was good. Bringing those good results forward is a good way to become less fearful today.
The one thing Im not afraid of at all is where Im going when I die. I am a Christian. I believe in the Lord. I live in the Lord. And I know where I’m going death is not the end.
Let me leave you with something else out of my book, teris TIDBITS: Its God’s job to worry, not yours. Do everything as if you were in charge, while praying as if God is in charge. And faith — which is what keeps fear away is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.
And that’s the thought I would like to leave you with: just go ahead out there, live it, give it, do it your best, and then go home.
Thank you.