I’ve spent most of my life living in fear. Real, imagined and borrowed.

The real:

Crouching under the bed, scrunched in the corner as far away from the drunken belt as I can be.
Fear of drowning when thrown into water over your head when you don’t know how to swim
Screaming to get off a roller coaster ride, remembering a roll-over accident.
Losing everything and having to start over, again.

The imagined:

Making an escape route in case someone were to break in and try to take my children.
Taking a mistake and making it and the consequences bigger than they are.
All the “what if’s” my brain can come up with that are highly unlikely – trust me I have a lot going on in that arena.

The borrowed:

Losing my spouse.
Growing old and not having my mind or body function as it does now.
Losing a child.
Losing everything, again.

While there is “healthy” fear (that is where I put my fear of heights :)) such as being cautious out at night by myself. The other fears, real, imagined or borrowed, can prevent us from living in and enjoying the present.

Reality check on my fears:

The real: I lived through them. Not fun. But I did survive them. And stronger for it.
The imagined: Why do I even go there?
The borrowed: Yes, they are real possibilities.

Why am I letting them steal today’s joy?

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

What fears are keeping you from living in the present?

Trying to live free from fear. On the Journey. Jackie