Get the Fear Out

by Jonathan Longnecker

Our doorbell rang at 10:00 last night. Ashley and I looked at each other. “That’s weird, who in the world would be at our door this late?” I said. We’re not the type to have people over at all hours of the night. Since most of our friends have kids now, everyone packs up at 8 or so to get home before the tantrums begin. But either way, no one shows up on our doorstep this time of night.

I went to the front door and flipped on the outside lights to see our neighbor standing there. We just moved and she’s been very friendly, telling us all that goes on in the neighborhood.

It turned out that we had left our massive, two-child stroller out in our driveway. And by massive, I mean it won’t fit through any normal doorway opening, takes up the entire sidewalk, weighs 30+ pounds massive. Thankfully she noticed and came over to let us know it was in danger of being stolen.

Stolen? In a brand new nice neighborhood? Turns out there are some houses right next to us that aren’t finished yet, and some people have taken it upon themselves to steal refrigerators, jacuzzis and other large ticket items out of these unsecured structures.

Now, if I hear there’s funny business going on right next to my house, sure I should be concerned. The problem is we started to dwell on it. We talked about all sorts of random “bad” things that had happened. Some lady’s dog got bitten by a rattlesnake months ago (before they cut down the tall grass), someone saw a suspicious truck at 5 in the morning. By the end of the conversation I feel like I need to go buy a gun or something.

And it didn’t stop there. I laid in bed for a couple of hours afterwards gleefully imagining the various ways I could punish an intruder with all sorts of different makeshift weapons. Don’t laugh, I know you’ve done it, too!

What’s my point? Well, it’s easy to be afraid. To talk about the random bad things that happened to someone else and know for sure that they’ll happen to you. And worse to spend all your time worrying about it.

What about that new idea you just had? The one that could change everything? Are you not doing anything with it because the people around you are afraid? Do they talk about how you’ll never succeed or there are too many obstacles?

Just a quick reminder that if you surround yourself with fear it will inevitably keep you from doing amazing things. Get the fear out. You’ll be glad you did.

As for me, I’m going to make sure I lock the doors tonight and actually get some sleep. And put a baseball bat under the bed.