On a bike ride with my family the other day, a black snake darted right across our path.
Thankfully, we simply rolled on by and it slithered off into the bushes, but the encounter got me thinking of a familiar phrase: “It’s more afraid of you than you are of it.”
The reason that phrase stood out to me, though, wasn’t the comparison of who was most afraid.
It was the reminder that fear is what makes most snakes lash out, and that fear can make us do the same thing.
We’re overwhelmed with work but too afraid to scale back or get help, so our stress reaches a breaking point and other people pay the price.
We’re not handling a relationship well but are too afraid to admit it, so we bottle up our feelings until they explode.
Pick an arena and a scenario and you’ll find the same thing: fear is the culprit for so many of our conflicts.
The answer?
Face the fear head-on and DO something about it.
You’ll never be able to “out think” fear. You can only “out act” it by taking steps of courage.
But when you take those steps to reach out for help, to take a step back, to find clarity however you can, something amazing can happen.
The snake will slither away and leave you alone.
