Fear and a Balanced Life

Our new VP of Education, Sean Kramer, gave an excellent speech tonight at our Parker Toastmasters meeting. The topic was about fear, what it can do to you, and how you can use it to your advantage. There are genuine things to fear, war, being one of them. However, many of us also have fears that are more trivial; fear of failure, fear of rejection, and close to home with Toastmasters, fear of public speaking. If you let it, fear can slow you down.

One way to use fear to your advantage in these situations is to realize that they are opportunities to grow. Fear lets you know that you are out of your comfort zone. With a goal of constant personal growth you can turn that fear into a positive energy to push your limits.

One very interesting point that Sean made was talking about a balanced life, and how most people are searching and striving towards one by balancing work, family, exercise, diet, and relaxation. The visual image that Sean provided was that of an old weight scale.

When the scale is balanced, how much work is being completed by the scale? The answer is none. The scale needs to be unbalanced, have its limits pushed, to move the weights and complete work. The theory being that if your living a perfectly balanced life, your not stretching or pushing yourself, your not living fully. So get out and face your fears, get off balance and grow.

aaron berndt