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.