Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Overcoming Fears

I'm not sure if it has been forever, but for as long as I can remember I've had fears of heights.  It has gotten worse in recent decades; that's for sure.  When I was a teenager, I could jump off of a diving-board, meaning that I could fearlessly walk along a plank of wood.  But by my thirties or a bit later, I had developed terror of such a thing.  Even as a young child I found walking down a rocky, woody path had me screaming from fear, but I don't remember any fears of the amusement parks of fifty, or sixty years ago.  Yes, I'm that old!

So, I'm really awfully proud of myself for climbing the high ladder at work to put clothes on high shelves.  That's part of the job working in a large store like Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin.  But this week I really surprised myself when I climbed to the very top of the highest ladder to change the scarves on the dummies/mannequins.  I kept encouraging myself. 





It's important to conquer fears.  Of course that doesn't mean that you should talk yourself into doing something risky or dangerous.  I rationally knew that the ladder was steady and that the platform on top could hold me.  It was kind of tricky to get one scarf off and the other on each of the dummies while perched up there, but I succeeded safely, Baruch Hashem, Thank G-d!

And, yes, I was very pleased with the results of my work.

6 comments:

Miriam said...

Fears...they can paralyze a person. Ever since I was a very young child I was afraid of dogs. [a dog jumped me when I was 5 and that was it] I went out of my way to avoid an on coming dog. 17 years ago, we got our son a puppy. I had to conquer my fear. Today, I'm still cautious of large jumping dogs, but truthfully our Rocky and now Patches have cured me. http://miriamswords.blogspot.com/2011_10_24_archive.html
Miriam

Batya said...

Miriam, I was also phobic about dogs and cats, for no reason. I worked on myself during my teens, so you can't say I love dogs, but I'm fine with them. The height business is more physical, even though I have a great sense of balance.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
A former neighbor of ours had a fear of heights. He cured it by becoming a paratrooper.

Batya said...

Kineine hurruh, love it!

Leora said...

You are brave and elegant. Love those pinks and grays on you amidst all the other clothing! You look great, Batya (and the beaming is coming from inside you, not your clothing - you just wear the clothes well).

I was super pleased when my daughter overcame her fear of dogs - of course, she managed it when she was 6, not 60 ...

Batya said...

Thanks! I make a point of wearing my "work clothes" to work and chose that sweatshirt. It's a favorite color.