As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."  I have come to learn that the things that I fear rarely ever come to pass.  And the results of pushing through my fears are generally greater than I had anticipate.  It's like I get rewarded for taking the challenge on.  Here are some examples of times that I faced fear head on and the outcomes:

• I returned to college at the age of 35 while working full-time, raising a child, and going through a hellish divorce (what was I thinking!).  The outcome: I graduated summa cum laude 5 years later.  The feeling of success was intoxicating and lasted for several weeks.
• I moved an hour away from my family, friends, and community to be with the man I love at the age of 42.  The outcome: I live within minutes of shopping, dining, and entertainment.  We've built a beautiful new home.  I have several new friends.  And my commute went from an hour to 10 minutes.
• I have left the field of speech pathology to explore new career options.  The outcome: This one is still in the works.  But so far, I have starting blogging, which I absolutely love!  And I am looking into a business that will allow me to set my own hours and work from home.  I have complete faith that this will work out well for me.

What fears are holding you back today?  I can tell you that the only thing that is permanent is death.  So unless the change you're facing has the potential for a deadly outcome (which is highly unlikely), I say push through the fear and reap the rewards.  You only get one chance to go through life.  Take the bull by the horns and live an extraordinary life.

"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson