One of the things which I thought about over the past week was the subject of facing fear. I believe that everyone manages their fears differently.
This is a week for myself which runners call the taper week. My next half marathon is on Sunday. The irony is that after having gone through two half marathons before this, one may think that there would be no fear going into my third. However, good old self doubt has been rearing its ugly head again. The past few weeks my legs have not been “cooperating” and I have had some pains. This is not a good thing to experience before taking on this distance! I also know that I have a general fear of races. There is something about having others around me at a time when I feel vulnerable already which raises my fear. I have been through a good number of races at this point but nevertheless, the fear still persists. Can I do it again? Can my body withstand the mileage? Will I be judged for being so slow? I could go on and on.
However, I am of the mindset that life is a journey. Journeys have their ups and downs and with that, comes all different types of emotions. I am trying to remember that I have lived with fear before and that I can live with fear again. I want to be able to tackle this and be able to kick fear to the curb. With this mindset, I can only move forward and know that I can only do what I would ask another to do, try my best and give it what I have.
With facing and acknowledging my fear, I can keep on trying to be my best self and continue moving forward.
Alicia Joel-LCSW