"Why comes temptation, but for man to meet and master and crouch beneath his foot, and so be pedestaled in triumph?"  *-- Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)

"It is a great thing to know the season for speech and the season for silence."  *-- Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs.  Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves." *-- Dale Carnegie

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‘You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.’
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), American diplomat, writer, US First Lady

Last weekend the family convinced me to go with them to a Mountain Biking Centre where I hired a bike and for the first time faced my fear of being out of control. I am a competent cyclist on the flat, but faced with the kind of trails that exist at the centre, I could feel my insides curling up into a knot. So how do we face our fear? What do we need to do to deal with that terror? How can we acknowledge that this is a scary situation and still take action in spite of it?

My goal was to get from the top of the trail to the bottom without killing myself! How was I going to do that? I suppose I could have walked down, but that wasn’t the point of being at the Mountain Biking Centre. The only person I would be letting down if I did that was myself. Check my brakes, take a deep breath and go for it! Yahoo! What is your goal? What fears do you have about going for it? Can you look at each one and say, 'OK, this is something I am scared of. If I go for it, what is the worst thing that can happen? And what is the worst thing after that?' Facing the things we are frightened of can often reduce their impact.

This was a day of fun for me and the family. I knew deep down that I’d enjoy it, and I also needed to prove something to myself as well. What can you do for yourself this week? And next week? It doesn't have to be anything as challenging as throwing yourself down a hillside on a mountain bike, but it should be something that gives you a real sense of satisfaction.

It was time for me to face something I’d been putting off for a while. No one had nagged me, or made rude comments about me not joining the family each week. I could have made excuses and not gone – but I wanted to! Is it time for you to face your fears, assess the risks and go for it?

Are you ready to try out a new experience? Are you prepared to take a deep breath and deal with your fears and give it a go? This was certainly a new experience for me! What can I do next? What can you do next? What new thing can you do today to help you move towards achieving your goals?

What can you do over the next couple of weeks that will give you a sense of achievement, help you move yourself towards your goals and help you to face your fears?

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