Do The Thing You FearWritten by Jan Tincher
Copyright © Jan Tincher - All Rights reserved http://www.tameyourbrain.comEasily said, isn't it? But not so easily done? What if you knew that when you give into fear, that action will set up a path in your brain to be fearful next time, so that next time it's easier to be afraid? That would give you incentive to be more courageous, wouldn't it? Even more, what if you knew that when you act boldly and courageously, that action sets up path in your brain to be bold and courageous next time? Nobody wants to program fear into their lives, but that's what you do when you give into fear. And what does that get you? More fear. If you aren't careful, fear becomes a way of life. Do you want to be courageous? Do courageous things! Even *little* courageous things. The little things turn into big things, and soon you feel courageous almost automatically. The more you do something, more you are able to do it. Remember, there is always a first time for everything. Do it, program your brain that you've done it successfully so your brain will be ready to do it again. If you don't do it, because you are afraid, your brain will continue to bring that fear into your life. That does not mean jumping from an airplane without a parachute. That does not mean making a decision without all facts. That does not mean buying something on credit and HOPE money will come in. Don't think being courageous means doing some gigantic something you would never be able to do. Being courageous, to some people, means going outside their own door. Seeing other people. Talking to people.
| | Grasso, Kennedy, Frost, Public Service and YouWritten by Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach
“Something we were withholding made us weak/Until we found out that it was ourselves,” wrote Robert Frost, in “The Gift Outright.” Frost recited this poem at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. With words, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of world: ask not what American will do for you, but what together we can do for freedom of man,” John F. Kennedy was sworn in as 35th president of US. And arguably, no one could move us way JFK could. He understood power of words and of poetry. For his inauguration, he asked Robert Frost, US poet, to read a poem. Frost wrote a poem called “Dedication,” for inauguration but when he went to podium on that cold January day, snow blinded him and, thinking quickly, he recited “The Gift Outright” instead, something he knew by heart. Sara G. remembers “The Inauguration was on a freezing day, whole northeastern coast was snowed in. As an 11 year old living in New England, we didn’t have school that day because of snow, and I remember watching inauguration on television.” Frost was 86 at time. In “Dedication,” Frost wrote, “Summoning artists to participate /In august occasions of state/Seems something for us all to celebrate./ This day is for my cause a day of days,/And his be poetry’s old-fashioned praise/Who was first to think of such a thing.” To see his originals, go here: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_frost_1_e.html , and here: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_frost_3_e.html . I changed after Kennedy’s inauguration and so did ^my^ country. Before speech, I was a college kid wondering what life had in store for me and waiting for ^it^ to happen. After speech, I was an important person who had a country that needed her, a world that needed her. I became a person with a mission, and so did those around me. Many of my classmates joined battle against segregation, and later Peace Corps. This was a new concept in 1961 – giving service to your country. That man had a way with words.
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