Fear. Scared. Afraid.
When I was little, my biggest fear was going to bed at night. Sure that the boogeyman was just waiting for an opportunity to pounce, I slept with the covers up over my head - a tiny peephole to keep watch... and breathe. The boogeyman couldn't get me if he couldn't see me. I finally outgrew the irrational fear of the boogeyman... somewhere in my 30's. My fears are different now. There are plenty of things I'm afraid of that I can't do anything about. Fiscal cliffs and deranged killers come to mind. But there's one thing I've learned to love in my 40's (NOT the eye creams) - facing the things that scare me - the make my knees knock and heart race things that scare me. 26.2 miles had me quaking in my Sauconys. Building a house on my own - check. Teaching my daughter to drive - check. But I think the scariest thing I've learned to do is listen to my own voice. To trust it. And to act on it.
Recently I've celebrated my voice by doing a couple of scary things, just to prove to myself that I'm bigger than my fear. I wish I could say that by the end it wasn't scary anymore. It still was. But I did it anyway. Maybe confronting our fears doesn't make them go away. It just means they don't win.