Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat and reformer (1884 – 1962), once said:
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Until today, this made no sense to me whatsoever. “Why would I want to be scared?” I asked myself, always getting the clear answer of: “I have no idea!”
But this morning I wondered if this is more about our deep, invisible fears than it is about my outspoken, and irrational, fear of spiders or wet socks. (Although I suppose the socks issue is more about my neuroses than fear.) Instead of being about the “loud” things that scare us, I think Eleanor might mean the silent subconscious fears many of us have — things like stepping outside of our comfort zone or trying unfamiliar foods or meeting new people.
Awhile back I made a resolution to open myself up to more new things. Interestingly, what spurred me to do this was the Jim Carrey movie, “Yes Man”:
Saying “yes” to things outside my normal routine isn’t my default setting. But I have changed my mind and behavior and have to admit, I do feel like I’m living a bit more.
Even if, at first, it usually kinda scares me.
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Experiments In Telling The Future by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 9th, 2012
What Is 'Occupy Wall Street' Really About? by Josh Allan Dykstra on October 10th, 2011
The Epic Fail of California (and Why It Matters) by Josh Allan Dykstra on October 4th, 2009
Copyright © 2005-2012 Josh Allan Dykstra
2 Comments
Ellen M. Ingraham
Also like: “What would you do right now if you weren’t afraid?”
26 Feb 2010 09:02 am (@ellening)
In Business – “If You’re Comfortable, You’re Dead” « Bizrelationships's Blog
[...] Posted by bizrelationships on April 15, 2010 I read a great blog post this morning from Josh Allen that talked about doing one thing everyday that scares you. [...]
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