Letting Go of Fear

By SARAH DAVIS

It almost sounds like I hate to fly, but that’s not true. I love traveling. I love airports. I love the speed of taking off and seeing the aerial view. It’s just that I only enjoy it when it feels safe and under control.

At one point during the flight, my husband looked at me and asked how it felt not to have any control over the pilot. To not be able to nudge and direct the driver the way I do my spouse when he’s behind the wheel.

Terrible, I thought.  But here’s the reality. Flying is good for me. I like feeling a sense of control, and when it feels removed, it puts to test everything I claim to believe.

I sat at a table the night before attempting to talk one of my son’s away from nosediving over a cliff of fear about this very flight. I looked at him and told him about a time in my life when I was struggling with high anxiety and fear. Frequent trips to my primary care doctor. Frequent trips to the ER. A misdiagnosis of asthma, when in fact I was being ruled by anxiety.

I leaned in and looked at him. “Don’t let fear rule your life. It will stop you from doing the things you want to do.” And I could only speak that truth from a place that I have lived through and learned from.

We live much of our lives under this subconscious illusion of safety. Not that all things are outside of our control, hence the reason there are certain daily practices I have that help me feel safe.