Today my son went for a well check-up in order to enroll in preschool next week. While there, we learned he was due for a shot. Immediately he was overcome with fear, fear of pain, anxiety, fear of the consequences of the needle. Now 1-2 years ago, needles & doc visits didn’t bother him. Neither did sleeping in a dark room by himself, now he’s somewhat intimidated.
It amazes me how quickly as we age, we experience different things and we become fearful. Now don’t get me wrong, Isaiah still lives with wreckless abandon in many areas, but a few he’s allowed fear to take hold of him.
Don’t we do this as adults? We live our lives out of fear. We fear success, we feel failure, we fear speaking to others, we fear reject. Most of these feelings of failure are a direct or indirect result of previous experiences… but seriously do we have to let fear rule us?
How do we overcome fear? Can we overcome it? How can we get back to those years when we did everything in complete freedom of fear? I believe that this life devoid of freedom is what Christ meant when he said something about living life to the fullest. When we experience him completely, we rid ourselves of fear, and thus truly live.
