Reframing Your Fears: Rise

It happened again...

I was all set mentally to have a session with a coaching client. I really believe in this client so I almost couldn't contain my excitement that she was my first appointment of the day...my whole day would be great because the tempo from working with this great client would be high level awesome!

I just had to stop by 7-Eleven really quick to grab a sausage biscuit...and then I was confronted with one of my greatest, most paralyzing fears as a single woman: at the corner of the 7-Eleven building was a single, homeless, desperate woman who was crying so hard because she was hungry and so thirsty (it's been near 100 degrees in Texas all week).

I tried to walk past her fast because I needed to get to my office but like always, I can not ignore someone who's asking for such a basic need: food.

Not money. Not drugs. Not something illegal. Food.

I told her to hold on while I go buy it in the store.

Ice cold bottled water and pizza slices at the cash register, and then the lady next to me asks if I'm buying this for the lady outside. I say yes.

She hands me $2 to put towards the purchase and I recognize the same fear I have in her eyes...it was unspoken: that lady outside so desperate and yet ignored could be us.

I purchased everything and walked outside. The lady had been crying so hard and desperate hoping someone would notice her (she didn't ask for help, I just so happened to have noticed her) that her face was covered in tears and her nose was profusely running.

I will never forget the look she gave me when I handed her the ice cold water bottle and hot pizza slices.

I had to walk away fast because I was about to breakdown crying...

What does this have to do with reframing your fear?
Fear is not something that is permanently deleted.

Fear is something that is managed...the more experience you have managing it, the stronger you get in dealing with it.

But in case no one ever told you: fear never gets permanently deleted. Ever.

Since this event tapped into one of my greatest fears, once I got back to my office I spent 15 solid minutes going over fear scenarios of how that could happen to me...

And then I hit a fork in the road.

It was 20 minutes before my client meeting and I had to make a decision: set the tempo of my day with one of fear and thoughts of homelessness (and likely cancel my meeting) OR rise up in courage and tell my fear to shut up!

I chose to rise. This is reframing.

For 20 minutes before my meeting I took back my courage and focus and prayed.

Long story short, the meeting went well and I was able to quiet my fear.

Your greatest fear(s) may not be like mine. But what I know for sure is we all have at least one paralyzing fear that is triggered when we least expect it to.

When an event triggers that fear, I hope you come back to this post and that it encourages you...

To Rise.