Sitting With Fear—Mine, Yours, Ours

Fear has been walking beside me for miles now. Sometimes a step ahead, daring me to catch up. Sometimes a step behind, reminding me of everything I’ve left behind. And sometimes, it’s right next to me—silent, heavy, an uninvited but familiar companion.

But here’s what I’ve learned on this journey: Fear isn’t something to outrun. It’s something to sit with. To acknowledge. To ask, “What are you trying to teach me?”

I’ve carried my own fear—of failure, of being alone, of not being enough.

I’ve carried yours, too—the stories whispered to me by people I love or I’ve met along the way. The weight of loss. The pain of uncertainty. The lingering question of, “Will I be okay?”

But what is fear but the absence of… what?

Control? Maybe. Fear creeps in when we realize we don’t get to script the outcome. That life unfolds in ways we can’t predict or manipulate. But what if we let go of needing to control, and instead, trusted that we would figure it out as we go?

Certainty? Definitely. Fear thrives in the unknown, in the what-ifs and the blank spaces between now and later. But certainty is an illusion anyway. The real question is—can we walk forward without needing all the answers?

Trust? This one hits. Trust in ourselves. Trust in others. Trust that things will be okay, even if we can’t see how. Maybe fear is really just a lack of trust in our own resilience.

So I sit with fear. I let it exist without letting it own me. I listen to it without letting it steer the ship.

Because fear is loud. But so is courage. So is curiosity. So is the simple act of taking another step forward, even when you don’t know exactly where the road leads.

#KeepMePosted #WalkingAcrossAmerica #MentalFitness #SitWithFear #OneStepAtATime