Off to see the Wizard

I am a coward. There, I said it. I don't really feel all that much better but at least it's out in the open.

I am afraid of everything and I pretty much always have been. As I get older it's a lot easier to admit shortcomings and other faults.
Being afraid of your own shadow is definitely a shortcoming. It means you seldom leave your comfort level to try new things.

It's tough. You miss out on a lot of things by being afraid. You might want to accomplish big things but you seldom even try because it scares you.

I fear public speaking. 

I signed up for karate because I was scared. I was too scared to advance all that far in karate because of the that fear thing. 

I once wrote an entire book. I was afraid to send it anywhere because I feared rejection.


In the Wizard of Oz the crew went to see the Oz so that he could fix everything. In real life, there obviously is no Oz. There is no quick fix.

But, there is something of a fix.

Public speaking is hard for most people, but talking in front of people time after time helps out a lot. I spoke in front of churches and other large groups and while it's still not comfortable, it's not paralyzingly painful anymore.

Heights, lots of people fear it. I made myself work on top of a very tall ladder for a long period of time. Rock climbing in a safe environment helps out a lot, too.
I still don't like hanging off the edge of the Empire State Building, but my fears are much less than before.

To overcome fear the only thing to do is directly attack that fear.

It would be much easier to have an Oz to fix everything but since there's no Oz I need to stay busy.