Emotions are very powerful. How we feel about something tends to control the decisions that we make in our life. If we’re happy then we may go out and hang out with our friends. If we’re sad, we might end up staying at home while eating a gallon of ice cream in an attempt to heal our wounds. Fear is another emotion that we have, but this one might one of the most powerful one of them all.

Some fears, like being afraid of learning how to ride a bike, are small. I remember when I first tried learning how to ride one. I was terrified of getting hurt, but with a little bit of encouragement, I got over it. In these instances, someone can force you to see how irrational your fear is and then you can continue to conquer that fear. On the other hand, there are some fears that are much bigger. These are the ones that are paralyzing— debilitating, even. No matter how much encouragement you get, you can’t seem to get over it. You try to convince yourself that it’s no big deal, but for some reason, you just can’t do it. It may be a fear of public speaking or maybe you’re too afraid to go after that goal that you want to achieve, but whatever it is, it is possible for you to overcome it.

The first thing that you need to do is find the root of your fear. If you know the reasons why you’re afraid then it will make it a little bit easier to defeat it. For example, why are you afraid of public speaking? Are you scared that people might judge you? If that’s the case then you can practice your speech or your talk in front of someone who can give you critical feedback and let you know how to adjust it so that the people you’re talking to will find it informative and interesting. And why are you afraid of achieving your goals? Are you scared that attaining it will be too difficult for you to get done? If that’s the case then talk to someone who recently accomplished something that they always wanted to complete and ask them if the difficulties were worth the reward. If it was then maybe this will give you the courage to go for that thing that you want to reach.

In a movie called The Wizard of Oz, one of the characters was a lion who was afraid of everything. Even though his friends tried to encourage him to get over his fears, he was still very afraid of all that was around him. In the end, he discovered that he had the courage to overcome his fears all along. Yes, that fear was still there, but all he had to do was dig down deep inside of himself to overcome all of the things that he found to be scary.

Positive thinker, I know that you have your fears, but you also have courage. Courage is what you’re going to need to overcome these fears. A person who goes into battle where he might not come out alive has fears. He’s afraid that he might not come back home the same way he left it. He’s afraid that he might end up not coming back home to his family at all. And he’s afraid of what will happen to his family if he does end up dying. All of these fears are running through his head, but he pushes past them to do what he’s supposed to do. He finds the courage that he has within himself and he uses it to persevere, and you can do the same thing.

When we’re scared about something, it will keep us from doing the things that we want to do. Think of all of the experiences your fears are leading you to miss out on. They are pretty powerful, but they’re not as powerful as the courage that’s inside of you. So find that courage that is buried down deep. I know that you want to enjoy the best parts about life, so use that courage to do just that!

Remember, “On the other side of your maximum fear, are all of the best things in life.”