“Here’s a secret that not many people know. Fear and bravery are partners. You can’t be brave without first being afraid.”
There is no accounting for fear.
The tiniest of things can trigger the biggest of fears. Take a spider for instance.
For reasons beyond reason, one of these eight-legged arachnids flood my otherwise fierce daughter with the kind of fear that once landed her on her kitchen counter for three hours as she waited for her boyfriend to return home and hunt down the long gone culprit.
That was years ago.
Fast forward to this morning. Her dad and I were sitting on the porch with our coffee when she tried to reach us on FaceTime. I didn’t answer, thinking I would call back in a little while. When a phone call immediately followed, my spidey sense kicked in and I picked up. A Black Widow spider was crawling up the side of her kitchen counter. Blinded by fear, she couldn’t see the forest for the trees. That same boyfriend is now her husband, and it has always been his job to deal with the inevitable spider. A tough situation when he is gone on a business trip. I mean a girl can only stay on a kitchen counter for so long.
Her: (Shaking) There’s a Black Widow climbing up the side of the counter and I don’t know what to do.
Me: Get a roll of pater towels. The whole roll.
Her: (Shaking) I don’t think I can do it.
Me: Yes. You can.
Her: (Still shaking) OK
Me: Get close to it, and smash it with the roll of paper towels.
Her: (Still shaking) OK…It’s done.
As those words came out of her mouth standing in her kitchen a hundred miles away, a herd of elk burst out of the pine woods and across our snow covered field. Heads held high, their steamy breath creating little clouds in the air, we’ve been waiting for a rare closeup glimpse of them all winter. They chose that precise moment to show up. The moment when her seedling of courage burst out of an old-growth fear.
Her: (No longer shaking) I did it!
This is a fear that has gripped her for years. This morning she loosened its grasp and will never be the same again. That’s what happens when we choose to be brave. Sometimes a herd of elk even shows up to celebrate.
