Life Can Be Scary

I have always loved a challenge.

Or ... so I think.

Life can take us on a roller coaster ride full of highs and lows and twists and turns.

Even for those of us who enjoy unexpected thrills, it is frightening to suddenly find ourselves heading for a deep plunge. However, it happens to all of us.

It is at these moments when it is important to remember that we are not alone in our experiences. No matter how brave, how strong, or how levelheaded we are, at some times we all become scared or afraid.

Our fears may evolve around our physical safety, particularly if we are not feeling well, living under difficult circumstances, or doing work that exposes us to hazardous conditions.

Perhaps we may be experiencing financial woes that cause us to be fearful about making ends meet, afraid that we may lose the very home in which we've lived and loved. Or, we may fear losing investments that we have worked hard for in hopes of procuring financial security in retirement.

We may also fear the loss of a loved one who is sick, or we may never have been with someone and may be afraid of never finding someone special to spend our life with.

We may be scared to start at a new school, or be afraid of being denied admittance to one.

We may be afraid of beginning a different job, or be scared of losing a job we have.

We may be scared of moving to a new town, and afraid of losing the friends we've known ... the life we've enjoyed.

Whatever our fears are, they are valid, and we do not need to feel ashamed or embarrassed that we are, at times, frightened, afraid, and scared.

It may be comforting to know that everyone becomes each of these, and that is okay.

Sometimes just acknowledging our fears is enough to make us feel better.

Also, while it sometimes takes a lot more to ease our mind, we can console ourselves with the knowledge that life can be scary at times and that we are not the only ones who are afraid.

When we allow ourselves the permission to be scared or afraid, we allow ourselves to move forward through our fears so we can let them go and we can grow within ourselves through faith.

That growth, through faith, also makes us able to share our fears with others - therefore allowing the grace of God to work within us and through us, using our own difficulties, fears, and challenges as a channel in which we can guide others through the waters of life, and nurture faith in others.

Much like the ship that enters the unknown harbor, awaiting the pilot boat to navigate the waters ahead, sharing our apprehensions with others allow even our own fears to be realized as far less overwhelming as we invite the assistance and guidance of others to work as lighthouses against our own reefs.

When we share our own fears, we lighten our burden because we no longer carrying our worries all by ourselves.

We accept the gift of friends to bear the burden of our own Cross.

When we ask someone to be mindful, in meditation or in prayer, we invoke a power that is greater that any nation.

We invoke a power of love, spirit, togetherness, and faith.

With love, we can overcome any obstacle.

With spirit, we can reach far beyond our dreams.

With togetherness, we can outshine any darkness.

With faith, we do live eternally.

So, what we learn, is that we can lose many things which are afraid of losing, and we can encounter many situations which we are scared to step in to.

However, we can never lose our love, our spirit, our togetherness, our faith.

Remember ... we are never alone.

With love, light & faith,

Rob