Fears

I have realized for a while that my fears keep me from experiencing a lot in life. I am afraid of dogs, bees, getting lost, being alone and on and on. I go way overboard on many of my fears.

I was terrified of dogs growing up. I knew all the houses in my area that had "free range" dogs. There was actually a house at the end of our circle, and if the garage was open, I would walk all the way around the block to get home instead of walking by the house. We tried several times after we were married to get a dog, but it never worked out. Finally, about 3 years ago, we bought Max, our huge black lab, for my son Allen. He has always been our dog lover, and it has been a great purchase for him. I think if Allen had to choose between Max and our family, there are days he would choose Max. I am still afraid of dogs, but I think it is a much more rational fear now. Learning to understand Max has helped a lot. Max is huge. He weighs more than 100 pounds. For some strange reason, Hubby always likes to point out his sharp teeth, and talk about exactly what kind of damage they could do if Max decided to turn on us. It doesn't bother me at all.

One of my fears is taking the kids anywhere alone. I am always positive we would break down somewhere, and my kids and I would be at the mercy of some stranger to help us. This summer, I finally decided to try a family trip without Hubby. I packed up the kids, and drove 3 and a half hours to my sister's house. She had some bum lambs that she wanted to have some help with. She thought it would be a great homeschool lesson. It turned out to be one of the best trips ever. My kids LOVED helping her with her animals!! We were able to homeschool, and it worked out really well. We went back up a month later with the whole family, and my kids are talking about going up again before the summer is done. My fear now is that I will drive my sister (or brother-in-law) crazy by visiting too often. :)

Most of the time when I finally conquer my fears, I find that I wasted a lot of time being afraid instead of enjoying life. I really need to push myself more to try things that push me out of my comfort zone. I think my whole family would benefit from it.