Sunday morning I drove from Maryland to a soccer tournament in South Jersey. I crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge at about 7:30 am. This is not a major problem but I have a fear of heights. When I cross high bridges, I usually get a tingling sensation in my legs. It is a physical reaction to my mental picture of the bridge coincidentally collapsing as my car crosses it. This fear is not debilitating, just a sensation that I have to move past. There was a heavy fog that morning and I could not see any indication of height. Strangely enough there was no tingling in my legs despite knowing that the height was there. This was extremely odd because the tingling has been consistent for years.
Fog is nothing more than a dense accumulation of water molecules that clouds our vision slightly. The fog allowed my vision to focus on the road ahead and nothing else. It’s such as simple thing but it is profound as well. The thing that we fear is very rarely staring us right in the face. It is usually on the periphery and we allow it to distract us just enough to cause accidents or immobilize us. The fog didn’t take away the possibility of danger, it only blurred my acknowledgement of it. As you set a goal, fog your fear as well.
Make your goal ever-present. Put it in front of you in pictures, words and emotions. Print it out in 72 pt font. Ingrain its presence into your consciousness like a hot rivet being driven into a steel beam. Then take your fears and put them out there in the fog. If you’re a picture person, put the photo of your fear behind wax paper. Print it in 4 pt font, so that by comparison that fear is extremely small. It is acknowledged but not as big as the goal. Fear is almost never completely extinguished. The key is to make it an ember rather than a bonfire. Embers are easy to ignore. Fog your fear and focus on your goal.
Go for that big thing today, tomorrow and the next day!
Pete
Huryk Unlimited 