{Be Confident} Fearless

I wanna challenge you to try something: do something that scares you.

And no- I don’t mean rent the latest horror flick and then blame me for the nightmares you’ll have after — that’s just cray.

No, instead I want to challenge you to think about what you’re afraid of.

Eventually I want us to get to the point where the thing that scares us most- is something that excites us.

I know, I know, I know- cray.

But baby girl, maybe you just need to live a little- and I’ll do my best to be your excuse to.

Ain’t no shame in my game, I’ll take the blame.

Does it scare you to walk across the room and reach out to people?
Does it make you uncomfortable to consider giving up social media for 21 days?
Do you fear what might happen if you break up with that boy?
Are you waiting for the opportunity to start that something and scared it’ll never come?
Does it frighten you to think about what might happen if you really let go?

I’m asking these things because I want to get to know you.  I want to meet you where you are.  I’m at this place where grace and truth are starting to be mixed into one.  See, my biggest fear is that I will love deeply, love intentionally, give of myself fully, and still not be good enough.

There, I said it.

See, fear is a crippling thing.  One that leaves us empty and broken….If we let it.

But that’s the key: we have to let it.   Since we’re being real, let me continue…

There was this one time, when a boy broke my heart.

Now, bear with me here, it’s not as sad as it sounds.

This boy and I sat at a local coffee shop, parallel to each other.  His blue eyes, staring into my green ones.  We had come to the end of “us”, and at this point, we were beginning to build a relationship founded strictly in friendship.  We talked through the night and he effectively communicated everything a woman wants to hear after her heart gets broken.

Well, almost everything.

It was a sweet time.  It was one of those times that every girl often dreams of- when the man she loves finally comes to the realization of : “Wow, this girl is great.”  He communicated as much, and eventually, our conversation died down like embers in a fireplace.  We both knew that we’d be better than okay.  We both wished each other nothing but the best, and knew that it was to come.

Even weeks later, his words were still warm in my mind.

In the midst of our conversation, my fears whispered their poison into my heart : he never loved you like you loved him. You weren’t good enough to hold on to.

Slowly, but surely my heart began to close itself- in an attempt to protect itself.  My fear was one that I had never really vocalized because I never realized the hold it had on me.  I didn’t realize that  if I closed my heart to pain, I also closed it to blessing.  A closed heart cannot receive-and an open heart has no guarantee that pain will never enter.

I conveyed as much to a friend, and what they said blew my mind:

Anna- What if we stopped being scared of breaking and started being scared of a life not well lived?

My mouth dropped when my friend’s words hit home.

How on point is that?!  What if we STOPPED being scared of taking chances and STARTED being scared of what would happen if we DIDN’T take them?

What if I looked my fear in the face- laughed at it– and then loved people as hard and as authentically as humanly possible.

Exactly.

Following Christ is audacious, its bold, its whimsical and sometimes-most times- it doesn’t make sense.

Let’s stop making sense and start making every situation about giving glory to the One true King.

Let’s give up fleshly desires one by one- baby step by baby step and trust that Jesus is in control.

I wanna get more into this next week- but first, I want you to comment below with what scares you.  Ya’ll, this is an opportunity to be real.

Don’t miss it.

Let’s do this.

xo

AnnaFilly

PS  Feel free to share your fears & be real on Instagram using the hashtag : #FearlessHOCO  this week!  You might be featured on the Delight blog!!