How I Conquered One of my Biggest Fears

I know that feeling.

The tight pain in your chest, your palms are sweaty and the only words you can hear ringing in your head are “YOU can’t do this.”

I know that feeling.

Straight after obtaining my drivers license in 2018, I stopped driving. It scared me and I hated the feeling of being on the road in a car by myself. So I just didn’t drive and I constantly made excuses to drive our family cars. “that car is too big” and “that car is too fast.”

So when I was hired for my job in 2020 I knew I had to start driving but I had been out of practice for two years and all I had was anxiety bottling up. My dad and I would drive to my office and he would then drive my car home and the same process would take place in the afternoons.

But my anxiety wouldn’t leave me, I’d wake up in the mornings hyper-ventilating with tears in my eyes. The trucks and taxis petrified me and I hated being among all the other cars on the road.

So How Did I Conquer My Fear?

With a whole lot of faith and a little bit of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a “meditation technique in which you focus your awareness on the present moment by acknowledging, but not analysing or acting on, your feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. ”

The second I started to feel uneasy I started to regulate my breathing, I closed my eyes and I held my car keys in my hands. Breathe in and breathe out. Nice and slow and then I let myself feel every emotion – still controlling my breathing. And as negative emotions engulfed me, I spoke positive affirmations over my life.

  1. I can do all thing through Christ who strengthens me
  2. If He is for me who or what can be against me
  3. I am a child of a great and mighty God

I’d pray for safe travelling mercies and peace as I turned my keys into the ignition. I then blasted my favourite worship music and belted the lyrics at the top of my lungs. I celebrated each safe trip to work like it was a win and I carried on to do that until driving started to become normal.

It took me months to get here. But if you take it day by day and believe that you’ll get through it. I promise you, you will. I know it isn’t easy but take it as it comes and try to surround yourself with as many positive people as possible. I’m so grateful to my family, friends and my work team for the constant support during that time in my life.

I know that this unprecedented time has brought a lot of doubt and fear and I want you to know that no matter what it is you’ll get through it.

Advertisement

17 Comments Add yours

  1. Such an honest post. It takes a lot to talk about your fears especially to the internet! Well done x

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      Thank you so much! This means a lot

      Like

  2. nicoletbuntinggmailcom says:

    Breathing techniques are one of the best things I’ve learned to do to conquer my anxiety! It’s amazing how much this mindfullness helps 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      Right? Breathing exercises are amazing to calm yourself down

      Like

  3. maddiebeefit says:

    This is such a great post! I will definitely be using these ways to conquer my fears!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      Thank you! Please let me know if they help!

      Like

  4. KarenBernalVasquez says:

    Mindfulness is the best, right?!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      100%

      Like

  5. Def gives me some inspiration!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      I’m so glad!

      Like

  6. Thank you for being so honest and open with your post. We all have fears that we face each day and these tips will definitely help us do that.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      I’m so glad my vulnerability can help you be the best you

      Like

  7. amillennialsreality says:

    Thanks so much for sharing, this is a super honest post and a great read!

    Like

  8. I’m so proud of you! Great job overcoming your fears and sharing them with the world. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      Wow! This means so much! Thank you

      Like

  9. mxlolita says:

    I love affirmations. They help me calm down in any situation.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. tashalm28 says:

      I 100% agree. Speaking positivity over your life can have so much power

      Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s