BESTSELF™ ICEBREAKER | Courage 16
WHERE IS YOUR FEAR OF RESPONSIBILITY PREVENTING YOU FROM TAKING THE NEXT STEP?
It’s certainly not the fear of responsibility preventing me from doing anything! After a long life chapter as a single parent of four now fabulous adults, I’m nothing if not responsible.
How about a reframe of the question: Where is my fear preventing me from taking the next step?
I say I want to write a book, but I don’t focus and put in the time to produce anything. I’m afraid I can’t come up with an engaging and challenging story with charming or complex characters which would appeal to me. Yes, me. Not the reader. I want to write something that will entertain me. After all, the writing of a book takes a couple of years. I want to spend that time with people I enjoy! Not that the characters all have to be lovely and kind, but they must be appealing in some ways - even a curmudgeon has his charm! (Clearly, I’m not thinking of writing a Steven King-inspired tome.)
I say I want to travel, but I don’t focus and put in the time to regularly work out (aka, daily walks) so that I’m able to improve my physical endurance for the challenge of travelling to foreign places. Yes, I show up for my reformer Pilates classes twice a week with Jackie, go to the RMT and chiropractor weekly, and eat a proper diet accompanied by plenty of sleep and water consumption. I’m afraid I will fail, so I anticipate the results and prophylactically fail.
I say I want to honour Bill’s request and bring him home, but given that Covid-19 is still a thing (with people in Ontario dying at a higher rate this summer than either 2021 or 2020), I’ve been putting it off. The logistics are a challenge, and he died in August 2020, that’s a long (and short) time ago. I’m tempted to release him to the great Lake Huron and allow water to do its thing - trusting that he’d find his way to his beloved Bellisle Bay. I can’t do it! I’ll simply have to be patient and wait to see what’s happening next summer. (The other part of the promise: he wants in attendance all of our 8 kids and all of the dogs and no one else is also a challenge I’m not looking forward to facing - who knows what the future holds? I’ll do my best, that’s all I can do.)
I suppose that last one comes closest to fear of responsibility - though, for me, it’s more my fear of dying unnecessarily.
Lots of fear to face!