I love Disneyland. It really is “the happiest place on earth,” at least for me. Whenever I go there, I can leave my worries at the gate, and just have fun. I get to see the characters from my favorite shows and movies, and the rides and the shows, put me in such a good mood that it leaves me wondering why life can’t be like this all the time. Even though I adore this place now, that wasn’t always the case.

The second time I went to Disneyland (the first time it rained so hard that we didn’t even bother getting out of the car and just left) there was a ride that I didn’t want to get on. Looking back on it now, it’s funny to me, because it’s literally one of the least scary rides there, but I can see why six year old me didn’t want to get on it. The ride that I was so terrified of was Roger Rabbit. Basically, you’re in this taxi cab and it twists and turns as it takes you through scenes from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It’s fun, but at the time there was no part of me that wanted to get on it. However, I had to because my dad presented me with two options. We could either get on it or leave. Since I didn’t want to go home, I got on the thing that I was afraid of. Waiting in line was probably the scariest part. I’ve never been a fan of the dark, and the entire time that you’re waiting to get on it, it’s fairly dim. So I was freaking out the whole time I was standing there in line in part because of the dark, but also because I just did not want to get on the ride. However, when it was finally time for me to get on it, I realized that I had been scared for nothing. As I twisted and turned on it, I saw that I had nothing to be afraid. I had built up the fear so much in my mind, that I was sure it was going to be the scariest thing that I had ever done in my short little life, but this wasn’t the case at all.

Too many times, we let fear steal our joy. There are so many amazing things out there in the world that we can partake in, but we’re just too afraid to bring ourselves to experience them. I mean, think about it. Try and remember a time in your life when you were afraid of something. Was it really as bad as you thought it was going to be? Chances are that you did like I did, and built it up in your head, but when you got ready to actually do it, it wasn’t that bad.

Positive thinker, fear is a natural part of life, but you can’t allow it to control you. When you’re uncertain about something, it’s normal to be afraid of it, but you can’t let the unknown be a good enough reason for you to avoid it. If even a tiny part of you wants to do it, then go for it. In that moment it’s going to be difficult for you to build up enough courage to go and do the thing you fear most, but once you finally do it, you’ll realize that it’s not so bad. And use your past experiences to motivate you to get going. When you find yourself in a position where you’re afraid, make an effort to recall another time when you were that scared, but ended up going through with it anyway. Remember how it wasn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be, and apply that logic to the situation you’re going through at the moment, so that you can have the courage to push through it and do the thing you fear.

Fear is a bully that tries to tear you down. You wouldn’t want a real life bully to wreak havoc in your life, so don’t let this one do it either. You can’t let it win, positive thinker. Don’t let it defeat you!