by Doug C. Grant

"Been setting a lot of goals for us, have you?"

I had just finished a session of goal setting and was feeling rather good about where I was going and what I intended to accomplish. Then came i-mail from Other-Self. An i-mail is like an e-mail except it arrives internally, can't be ignored and doesn't have a delete button.

I looked at my goal sheet again and smiled. "Yes...I think even you will have to agree that these represent a worthwhile plan for my future."

"I would if I could see some overall purpose behind them."

"Purpose! What do you mean, PURPOSE? They're covered with purpose."

"Such as?"

"Success! Financial prosperity! Fulfillment! Get with program. It's stuff of life."

"I couldn't agree less."

This really unplugged my wires. Sometimes Other-Self can be so completely no-where that I question if he's part of me. "All right...let's take this slow and easy. Are you telling me that you don't think success, money, fulfillment and all that good stuff amounts to anything?"

"I don't recall having said that at all. I was simply observing that ‛good stuff', as you call it, doesn't amount to a whistle in wind without a purpose behind it."

"I think I left you behind somewhere. Success IS a purpose. Money IS a purpose."

"Wrong as usual. They may be goals but they are not a purpose."

"Sounds to me like we're having an argument over words."

"Not at all. Let me ask you a few questions. Why did you choose goals that you did? What else should or could you be doing with your life? Where are you going? For that matter, where did you come from?"

"Oh...now I get it. This is one of your feet off ground head in sky discussions. Sorry...I'm not feeling very high-minded today."

Okay, so some of you are thinking, what's big deal about driving 5 hours? For me driving 5 hours by myself was a very BIG DEAL. I rarely do road trips alone, and when I do they are generally short trips, less than 2 hours. Add to that fact that I had never been to Youngstown before so it would be a long unfamiliar drive. I was scared. What if I got lost? What if I fell asleep? What if I went crazy talking to myself for 300 miles?

As you can tell by fact that I'm writing this, I made it to Youngstown and back safely. The trip taught me a few lessons about tackling fear.

1. Educate yourself. Prior to my trip, I studied directions to get there. I wrote instructions in big bold print on a 3 x 5 note card for quick reference while I was driving. The biggest thing most people fear is unknown. By educating yourself about activity that you fear, you can take out a large chunk of unknown.