The Art of Life
Photobucket I'm so glad you're here! "The Art of Life" is where I share my journey as an artist & Momma. It's a place where I hope to encourage other women that they are artists too. In this small little space I seek to share, document, and be reminded of God's wonderful grace, all around us. ....And I would be so happy to have you journey alongside me! So grab a cup of coffee and linger for a while. I hope you leave feeling refreshed. Photobucket

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Art and Fear

~~I came across this quote that I really like:
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. " Dale Carnegie

It got me thinking about fear. Fear is a strange thing. A certain amount of fear is healthy. It keeps us from being unsafe. As a Mom I know there are times when I've wished my daughters weren't always so fearless; when they've climbed to the top of the monkey bars or ran into the street after a ball. Having a healthy amount of fear is almost more about respecting danger than it is about being afraid.
~~Honestly though, the more I think about it, and the older I get, the more I'm coming to realize that fear is a great thing. I think we've got it all backwards. For most of my life I've wanted to live without fear. Being afraid is uncomfortable. It's not a good feeling. So my solution has always been to back away, to avoid fear.
~~This year I've been working very consistently at my fitness. I've made it a habit to wake up early every day and workout, either with weights or cardio. Even though it was a difficult habit for this night owl to establish, I've now come to truly enjoy it. I know how good it makes me feel. And, strangely enough, I've come to appreciate the hard parts of my workouts. (Not exactly enjoy, but appreciate!) When you're into your run, facing a hill with the wind in your face-it's hard! You have two choices; keep going
or quit.
If you keep going and push through the resulting feeling is amazing. It's wonderful to finish a workout and know that you accomplished something that was hard for you.
~~In weight training I've been using the Body For Life program by Bill Phillips. Basically the idea is to focus on one body part at a time and use RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) on each set. On a scale of 1-10 a 1 is no effort and a 10 is all-out, unable to complete. You want to start your sets at about a 6 and gradually add weight until you finish at a 10: to failure. How strange does that sound?! Your goal is to reach failure!
~~I love hitting 10's. It's hard. It hurts. But I know that when I've reached a 10 I've pushed myself to the limit and I will see results from it.
~~So, what does that have to do with art or life you ask?
I am learning that fear is actually an opportunity in disguise. Instead of our goal being to live without fear, it should be to face every fear head on. We will never get to the place where we're not afraid of something. Instead of seeing fear and running we should see it as our opportunity for a 10. It's our chance to push ourselves and truly grow.
~~Am I any good at this? Nope. Not really. I'm a scaredy cat at heart. To tell you the truth I'm a little nervous to write this because it will probably give me some opportunity to practice what I preach, lol.
~~But I do know this; I want to live a life of growth. I want to experience new things. I want to feel that "runner's high" not only on the trail but also at my easel.
~~Remember: Fear is just opportunity in disguise.
So, have you reached a 10 today?

4 comments:

misti said...

Not a 10 today, but I've been dealing with some frustrating things at work lately. Sometiems fearful things, too, at least for me!

Love this post today!

Valaine said...

Definitely hit my 10.

Kriscinda said...

love the quote, it's so true!!
always enjoy reading what you have to say:)

Valerie Jones said...

Nice post! The quote is so true. I love the part about pushing ourselves to a 10. We can use fear to our advantage.