Girls Write Out

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

CONQUERING FEAR
I realized this weekend that I'm still afraid of high places and here I thought I'd conquered it. A garage roof doesn't sound that high, does it? From the bottom of the ladder looking up, it's a piece of cake. That kind of thinking got me into trouble when we were painting our 2 1/2 story house too. I climbed all the way up on some scaffolding and then couldn't get down. I had to climb in the attic window to get down.

Yesterday I was afraid I was going to have to have Dave knock out the second story window and boost me through it. But I finally had him kneel in front of the ladder so I could hang onto him and then swing my leg down and get it settled onto the rung. I couldn't have done it without him though. I'd have had to call 9-1-1! And that brought home to me just how important other people are to conquering fear. We're told to buck up and just do it. Ignore our fears and press on. And sometimes we can. But sometimes, we're at the top of a roof looking down the ladder and we know without help we'll never make it.

While I'm waiting for my edits from Ami and Erin, I'm reminded how I wouldn't be writing the suspense stories I love without them. Or without Kristin telling me I could do it back in the days when I was writing only romance. Or without Denise and Diann telling me the story is fabulous when I'm sniffing the air to see where the stench comes from. Or without my writing friends who hold me up when I'm about to fall. Or without my extended family making me get up when I fell down in the early days. Or without YOU, dear reader, who join in our friendship here and laugh, cry and mourn with us.

So lurkers everywhere, unite! No need to fear to speak--you're among friends. Now is your chance to say thanks to someone who helped you face your fears and win. Or if you still have a fear, it's diminished when it's shared so tell us and you can brace yourself on our shoulder.

Colleen Coble
posted at 9:58 AM
Comments (7)

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7 Comments:

At 10:07 AM, Diann Hunt said...: In the face of an unknown diagnosis, an uncertain future that might include some pain and little chocolate, I confess I'm a tad fearful.

But then there's Colleen who constantly tells me I can do this, and who walks with me through it. Kristin and Denise who lift me up in prayer and many of you who do the same. THANK YOU! And of course, knowing the Lord is walking every step with me makes it all manageable.

I can honestly say my fear is minimal, but I think that's due to the prayers and encouragement from you!

Great post, C!
At 10:35 AM, Kristy Dykes said...: I often admire you four musketeers and your friendship. It's a wonderful thing you have going. To be cheered on in our writing lives and in our lives in general is a great blessing.

I have many in my life who have or are cheering me on, and I'm grateful for them.

Colleen, you have "cheer" tattooed over your heart. No, it's more than that. You have it in your spirit, your soul. It's a gift from God. It's called "encouragement."

God bless you all, and especially you, Diann, as you're dealing with this physical issue.
At 12:51 PM, Unknown said...: I hear you on the heights thing. I am not sure I would ever be able to say I think I've conquered it. The one time I decided to try getting something down from the storage over the garage on my own because I couldn't wait for my roommate to get home, I was also reminded WHY I DON'T CLIMB LADDERS! I FREEZE AND GETTING DOWN BECOMES ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE! This experience only reinforced my decision to never try that again.
At 12:55 PM, Colleen Coble said...: Forstrose, I'm one who believes you conquer fear by forcing yourself into the situation where you have to face it. I'm afraid of spiders too. Terribly so! But I started making myself look at pictures of them and read about them. Now I can kill them at least. I still freak if one gets on me though! LOL

So that's why I climbed the ladder to the roof. All about that confrontation thing. LOL
At 1:58 PM, Pam Sanderlin said...: Colleen, I did the same with snakes: I'm terribly afraid of them, but I held a boa constrictor, petted several snakes, and read all about snakes--their habitat, eating habits, etc., etc. Nevertheless, I HATE snakes and prefer not to ever enter the snake house at the zoo. No matter what people say, I think they're YUCKY!
At 5:41 PM, Crystal Laine said...: I, too, fear heights and actually wrote about it in a college paper. ha I also fear being trapped in a tanning bed naked...oh, wait, that one came true! Arghhh. (I got out by squeezing myself out the end and shimmying up the wall...)

As to facing my fears and someone who helped me to do that--that would be my mother who died in 1997. I used to have a dream repeatedly that a herd of elephants were trying to stampede me. I'd wake up in a panic, sweating and breathing hard. Finally, my mom said to me, "Next time you have that dream, just stand there, facing the elephants and see what happens."

I did and they just went around me, never touching me. I never had that dream again.

I've never really had a cheerleader/pray-er/fear facer since Mom died, but I have a lot of those days built up to sustain me.
At 5:50 PM, Kristin said...: My problem is that I don't want to conquer most of my fears. I'm sorta happy with them. The one time I did was when I went on the Today Show. I hate to be the center of attention, and my head works way faster than my mouth, so I worried I'd do what Miss Teen South Carolina did, and go insert that into YouTube if you haven't seen it. Poor thing. She is why I don't like to be in the spotlight, and it's not speaking. I am not afraid to speak. I am afraid to be asked things in public for fear my mouth won't operate with my brain.