Most of us have a few minor irrational fears. Some get nervous at the thought of getting on an airplane or speaking in public. Others shriek at the sight of a mouse, bat or other creepy animal. And people whose fears are so intense that they interfere with their day-to-day living; we say that they have a phobia.  A phobia is an intense and irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger.  Common phobias are closed-in places, heights, water, flying, dogs, blood and spiders.

        I took this photo last year in the fall outside my sister–n-laws kitchen window.  She hauled me outside one day screeching in delight to show off her beautiful garden spider.  I had to admit that as far as spiders go, this one was a definite keeper.  It is totally harmless to humans and considerably deadly to many of our most annoying and irritating flying insects.  Yet despite how helpful this fine specimen is, many people would destroy it immediately, simply because they fear spiders.

        Which got me to wondering if there were any other good things in our lives that we destroy on contact simply because we fear them or do not fully understand them?  Think about it, what is that something you are avoiding today?  What do you fear?  Is it possible that we are using our fear as an excuse not to travel the road set before us?  Perhaps we refuse to follow our dreams because we choose to travel the easy road of fear.  It is easy for us to justify our lack of effort on some irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger; we call this cowardice.

        Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.  We must realize that it is only when we do the things we fear that the death of fear is certain.  If we allow what we fear to intimidate us or stop us, then we are no longer free men and women but mere slaves to ignorance and fear.  It is doubt and fear that freeze life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, and sets it free.  Fear is simply unbelief parading in disguise.  Remember, courage is a choice; freedom from fear is a choice; choose wisely.

Something to think about:

• There are millions of Americans who are clever and fearless . . . they are four years old.

• The coward seeks release from pressure. The courageous pray for strength.

• Fear not that your life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.

• The person who succeeds is not the one, who holds back, fearing failure, nor the one who never fails . . . but rather the one who moves on in spite of fear and failure.

• The crosses we fear are heavier than the crosses we bear.

• Fear is the darkroom where the devil takes you to develop your negatives.

• Obstacles are those frightful things we see when we take our eyes off our goal.

• Better to face danger once than to be always in fear.

• We need not fear the future as long as we hold to the hand of him who knows the future.

Fear of the future is a waste of the present.
Rickey Moore