INTRO: This poem was inspired after I read for the second time, the book titled Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, by Susan Jeffers. I had read this inspiring book a year earlier. But as the years rolled on and new life experiences tumbled in on me, I needed to take a fresh look at a brick wall of fear which was blocking my path forward in life. Although I had overcome smaller fears, there was this root fear whose strength resisted my attempts to remove it from the garden of my heart – the incredible power of the fear of rejection. I made the decision to stop running away from fear and somehow learn to make it my friend. Beverley Joy.
Hello fear: I don’t normally want to talk to you
But I have decided that I don’t want to keep pushing you away
Yet be warned, I won’t let you overwhelm me anymore
So come, spend some time, let’s walk and talk.
I know you like to come and go in and out of my life
I thought it was wrong to keep your company
But now I understand that when you are with me
You help me see the power of my mind.
How you stop me in my tracks as if I am frozen in time
And I can’t speak and my thoughts spin upside down
What an alienating, uncomfortable experience you bring
But I wonder “Is it just my mind playing tricks on me?”
If my mind can create a powerful force like you
What else can my mind create for me?
I’m now curious to develop
This powerful force, within my mind.
I have always wanted you out of my mind
But now Fear, I see that there’s something I like
About having you pop in and out of my life.
Now that I’ve stopped screaming “Go away”
I can hear your voice; I hear you say
’Look at me, I am so powerful
And this power came from within you.’
Thank you, fear, for showing me
The depth of my inner strength
Thank you for igniting my curiosity
To explore this strength more creatively.
Oh, is it time for you to go away?
Well, next time you come to visit me
I’ll introduce you to my new friend
She’s bold and brave, her name is courage.
Beverley Joy © 2010 of Simply Story Poetry. All rights Reserved.
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Reference: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway How to Turn Your Fear and Indecision into Confidence and Action. Susan Jeffers.1998 by Ballantine Books
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