When our biggest FEARS become our greatest FEATS!

When our biggest FEARS become our greatest FEATS!

FEAR
Wikipedia says Fear is an emotion induced by perceived danger or threat, which causes physiological changes and ultimately behavioral changes, such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat.
FEAT
Wikipedia has no reference for Feat in the context I am using it in this article, however, in the Cambridge dictionary it says:
FEAT- something difficult needing a lot of skill, strength, courage, etc. to achieve it.

It is interesting to me that both words suggest something to be overcome and to me, the feat is the result of facing the fear.
"Fear" is the emotion we experience and when we conquer that fear we have achieved a "Feat". ​

How it works:
From childhood I had an extreme fear of water.
No, not the bath or shower (although I am sure some people do have that fear too!) it was fear of swimming pools and the sea. I suppose the fear was actually swimming, not really water. Anyway, I digress. 
At the age of 28 I decided I was going to take swimming lessons as I did not want to be scared all my life and not enjoy beaches and pool parties. I duly went for swimming lessons and was so proud of myself when I swam a breadth of the pool at the local swimming baths. That was it, I had overcome my fear or so I believed.
I had basically done enough to make me feel better about it and that was ok.
The thing was that I still avoided pools and beaches. 
When my daughter Keri was born, I was determined she would not be scared of water and I made sure I took her and then her sister and brother, first at 6 weeks to "dunk" them, as is the tradition, and then  for swimming lessons. I just made sure that someone else gave the lessons and I was not the one in the water with them. 
Throughout my 30´s and 40´s I convinced myself that I was not scared anymore I just preferred not to go in water out of my depth.
Then, I was unwell for a time and discovered "self-care" and with it the beaches!
As I live in Mallorca, there are many lovely beaches and I had never really benefited from their beauty, mainly because of my fear.
​Another 10 years on and my sister became seriously ill and that´s when I realised how fear paralyses us. I decided that I was not going to live my life in fear ever again. I took the time to examine the things that engendered fear in me, and guess what one of the biggest fears I had was - yes, you got it, swimming / water. 
I decided there and then, that I was going to conquer this for once and for all.
I had this amazing friend who started me off in a pool (haha) and gave me the encouragement and confidence I needed to go into the sea. I will be forever grateful to him for helping me to see other possibilities and take the 1st step. 

So,  I booked diving lessons, may as well dive right in, why not? It was one of the most exhilarating times of my life. I could not believe all those years I had missed out on this thrill. 

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You are never too old to set yourself a new goal!

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​I gained my PADI Open Water Diving Certification in 2015.

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Am I 100% comfortable in deep water without diving gear? - No. I can honestly say that I am not; however, will I go into deep water, go on boats and swim out of my depth?- Yes, and I can honestly say it is one of my greatest feats. ​

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I realised that I had response-ability to turn the
IMpossible
into
I´M possible. 

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I would love to hear about some of your greatest feats. 
or
If you have a fear that you would like some help turning into a greatest feat, let me know here. 

Linda Ledwidge is or has been at one point in her life a human Be-ing, woman, daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, nurse, midwife, head cook and bottle washer , among other things and her passion today is ​to hear you smile!
#FreeFloLiving #FeelingOnPurpose #KISS

​References
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 8). Fear. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:10, April 22, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fear&oldid=1016702515
Feat:  noun [ C ]   ​https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/feat​