I had a book signing tonight at Barnes & Noble.
Toward the end a lady walked up to me, a gleam in her eyes, and told me the theme of her life: “Step into afraid.”
“What?”
She smiled and repeated herself. “Step into afraid.”
Then I got it.
She’s right.
Courage isn’t absence of fear.
Courage isn’t the confidence that everything will be okay if we launch ourselves off the cliff.
Courage is the willingness to jump even as fear clutches at us, trying to keep us rooted on the rock.
Courage is choosing to fling ourselves over the side for the freedom that awaits us in the moment we leap.
Comments 9
One message that I have always heard loud and clear from God is “Face and overcome ALL fear”. If I walk away from one little thing that I fear, I cannot rest or enjoy anything or get it out of my mind until I go back to it and face it. He gave us a spirit of faith, not fear. We can do all things in Christ Jesus. Listen, and He will always guide us through.
Exactly, Jim, exactly. Just like the men who stood in the water. Nothing changed from the bank. But when their feet went in the water, it rocked the world.
Angie Breidenbach
Jim- I saw that photo and the post title, and thought, “Oh no! The book signing went so badly that he jumped off a cliff!”
Seriously, though, thanks. I’ve been screwing up the courage to send out my first query letters and I’m terrified. (Did I use the right format? Spell the agent’s name correctly? Show why I’m the right person to have written this novel? Captivated them with my fabulous description of my novel?) But I have to step into afraid. OK. I’ll do it. Thanks for the reminder.
Any news on that front?
Well, I’ve sent out a grand total of 7 query letters with no interest. That’s to be expected. Recently, I had an agent critique my query letter and she pointed out a lot of weaknesses in it; so right now, I’m rewriting the letter before I send it out to anyone else. Thanks for asking!
Thanks for this post…there’s a few cliffs ahead.
To Elaine – I live in a big city, and I don’t drive on interstates. Had a bad experience once. But God has provided alternate routes…backroads. Hope that helps.
Thanks for those replies.As of today,the 17 March,have not driven.Think I may go and do a refresher driving course.Elaine
Thank you for passing this on. This is something that I already knew but really needed to be reminded of. Thank you (and her) for the affirmation.
Please someone tell me how to overcome my fear of driving.I moved back to a city in Australia.Since coming ack I have not been able to get over my fear of driving in the city.