Photography

Feel the Fear and Do it Anyways

/ suefraser / 5 Comments

We’ve all felt fear at some point and time in our lives. Whether it be when we took our first attempt to ride a bicycle when we were little. Fearing of falling over and scraping our hands and knees, yet trusting our daddy would prevent this from happening.

The fear of not being accepted in that popular group of kids, when attending the first day of school when you were the new kid in town. The fear of flying in an airplane for the very first time, that was taking you to a amazing destination you so badly wanted to explore.

The fear of being alone, the fear of connecting, the fear of abandonment, the fear of failure and success, the fear of being fully alive, the fear of loss, the fear of trying something new, the fear of beginning a new chapter in life, the fear of loving and the list goes on and on. Not one person is exempt from feeling the extremity of fear.

But did you know, that fear can be healthy? It is programmed into our nervous system, and gives us the survival instincts you need to keep yourself safe from many forms of danger.

Fear is unhealthy when it makes you more cautious than you really need to be, to stay safe, and when it prevents you from doing things you would otherwise enjoy.

Why not face your fears to succeed or fail?

When we have loved and lost, or tried and failed, we may fear opening ourselves up to a painful competitive experience again. 

When we have succeeded or won—possibly at someone else’s expense—we may experience guilt, or fear retaliation. 

Thus many of us learn to hold back in love and life, thereby not risking either failure or success. 

We may feel the world does not allow us to be fulfilled.  Or we may feel guilty and afraid for feeling fulfilled.

We sometimes get hung up, from the fear of the possibility of being injured, whether physically or emotionally from the things we wish to endeavor.

We fear the knowing that we may fall to the ground, to our lowest point of failure, and have to face ourselves in getting back up to try in earnest again, sometimes trying over and over and over again.

Knowing full well, others may critically judge us. But the judgement of others, should never matter.

Take a step forward, and face your fears. Avoiding fears only makes them scarier. Whatever your fear, if you face it, it should start to fade.

Close your eyes and visualize the complete scenario of the fear that you are avoiding. Feel each and every sensation. Play the movie in your mind of the outcome you’d love to have.

Feel it. Hear it. See it. Believe it. Then do it!

When we practice this visualization continuously and repetitively, and then take the step forward, face the fear, that’s when the real miracles begin to take shape. The fear dissipates, and we rise to conquer all things in our lives, one fear at a time.

And remember, when you have faced that fear, whatever it is, jump for joy and be celebrated by others.

Life is full of stresses, yet many of us feel that our lives must be perfect. Bad days and setbacks will always happen, and it’s important to remember that life is messy.

Feel the fear and do it anyways.

Thank you for following along on my blog. If you’ve enjoyed it let me know and share it with a friend.

All the photos I have inserted, are my work, making memories one click at a time.

From Home on the Ranch

Sue

P.S. “Being brave isn’t the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.” Bear Grylls

In Service of Others, Brings Meaning and Purpose Within.

/ suefraser / 4 Comments

I am a journaler. It has been self healing, and helps me to understand life on a different level.

This morning, I looked back on a day in March that I penciled my thoughts, and it gave me a huge desire to share my writings with you.

My Writing on Thursday March 23, 2023

Oh the days go by. The feelings each day, each hour, each minute are different. One just never knows how one will feel at any current moment. They just don’t.

One moment you can be happy and joyful, and in another minute, things can change and the tears can well up and overflow. It’s all part of living, growing and evolving.

This morning I listened to Simon Sinek a British-born American author and inspirational speaker. Simon spoke about an experience he had during the war in Afghanistan several years ago. He was there. Seared in fear of death and all the things.

It wasn’t until he decided he needed to just go and be of service to the ones who were serving. His life had changed immensely in these moments.

The human touch speaks volumes

A plane was able to take him and a few others back home from the horrible and devastating war. In tremendous anxiety, Simon and others rushed to get to the plane. Little did he know, the plane he was to get on was a plane that was transporting a fallen soldier back home to the USA.

Simon met a doctor on the aircraft, and asked the man a question: “Do you have a different kind of feeling on these missions than you do back home?”

The doctor replied: “90 to 95% of the people who come through ER are either drunks or idiots. There’s not a single drunk or idiot on this aircraft.” The doctor relayed that the feeling he gets when he works these missions during his reserve hours is more powerful than ANY feeling he would ever get when working back home.

The doctor said: “THE GREATEST SENSE OF MEANING AND PURPOSE WE CAN HAVE IN OUR LIVES IS TO SERVE THOSE WHO SERVE OTHERS.”

A smile and a handshake is all one may need.*

Simon, back in the USA, spoke about his experience, his story of being/going to Afghanistan in front of an audience. Simon got choked up, and was so very emotional while sharing his story. Simon struggled hard to get through his story. His story was so raw and real.

Simon spoke about how someone in the private sector would typically say, in response to his sharing struggle…… “Take your time. It’s Okay. It happened. Take your time.”

Simon said, that’s not what happened. He continued to stand in front of his audience, all choked up in complete silence. He couldn’t speak. Simon couldn’t continue the emotional story he was sharing.

Then, a voice from the back of the room resounded, a General spoke up, and said:

“Go on.” Meaning: “Go on, and we are with you.”

Simon said that’s the difference between the private sector and those wonderful people he was among.

“The private sector says take your time, as if you’re alone. Take all the time you need. By yourself.”

“And these people, who truly know what, and understand what service truly means, they say: “Go forward. Go on. Move forward. You have no choice, and WE WILL BE WITH YOU!”

Simon shared, “When my friends are struggling, I don’t say, “Take your time.” When my friends are struggling, I say: “Go on.” When my friends are crying, I say: “Go on.!”

The underlying message is: “And I am sitting here in the mud with you.”

Simon says, “It is the greatest honour of my life, to sit in the mud with those who are struggling.”

And because of this experience of Simon’s, is where his book “Leaders Eat Last” was created.

Today I have learned from Simon’s story, that I need to be of service to others, better than I have been.

There are so many opportunities to be of service, we just need to be open to them, and begin serving.

Who can you be of service in your life today?

From Home on the Ranch

Sue

P.S. “The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi

Enjoying the Fruits of Your Labour

/ suefraser / 8 Comments

There’s a time to plant, a time to sow and a time to reap throughout one’s lifetime. Just as the garden that is planted in the spring, if we do not tend to it, nothing will grow. Before anything is planted, the rich soil needs to be prepared, the nasty weeds be removed, and sometimes a fertilizer spread upon the ground.

As a child growing up within the church, I remember the well known Bible verse, Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 which says: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.”

Everything in our journey of life has its own time and season, and one must be patient and understanding, as we move through the different phases of life, no matter the difficulty and pain that we may experience.

When planting the various seeds into the ground, each one must be carefully placed so far apart, and at different depths into the soil, for the bright sun and gentle rains to begin the process of germination, the first stage in the life cycle of many plants.

Just as a garden needs special care and attention to every detail in preparing, planting, watering and weeding, and weeding and watering again, and praying the bright rays of sunshine come out each and every day in hopes that the abundance of the fruits of our labour is plenty, similarly, our many life’s relationships need just the same care and attention.

Over a lifetime, a person can have many relationships with many different people. Some come and go, others last for a lifetime. Kindling a relationship involves building a connection, showing interest of one’s life, listening and engaging with what is shared. Communicating is key, being open and honest, expressing thoughts and feelings, clearly and respectfully. Spending quality time, and being supportive to one another, encouraging goals and dreams that they may have. Being appreciative of them and letting them know through small gestures or doing something kind for them.

Remember, building relationships takes time and effort, by both parties, just the same as the gardener prepares, plants and nurtures his garden.

Throughout the season, as the plants begin to produce the vegetable within the ground and the greens upon the vine, the gardener enjoys the fruits of his labour.

So should your new relationships bring you a sense of joyful companionship, a listening ear with a source of advice, emotional support to personal growth and an improved well being.

From Home on the Ranch

Sue

P.S. “You are the creator of your own garden. Plant kindness and compassion. Water with love and gratitude. And you will enjoy beauty all the days of your life.” Julie Parker

Is Your Music Still Within You?

/ suefraser / 6 Comments

I was listening to one of my favorite motivational speakers this morning. Wayne Dyer, who has crossed over to the beautiful place that awaits all of us on our special chosen day. His message that really hit me deeply, to which I’ve heard him speak several times before, is this: “Don’t die with your music still in you.”

What does that quote mean? What does that quote mean to you when you speak it aloud? Wayne’s daughter Serena, found that quote to be the most important principle to her in her life. And for Serena it meant that you don’t allow yourself to live any life other than the one you were born to live.

Some of us hear a different drum beat, a different tune, some like the sound much softer than others who love it wild and loud. And that is totally okay. Because each and everyone of us must march to the music that we hear. We ALL have music playing within us and we have a heroic mission to accomplish……if we allow it.

Wayne goes on to say that there are no accidents in this universe. We all show up here with a purpose. There is an intelligence that is a part of everything and everyone, and all of us are connected to it. And too many of us, are afraid to listen to that music and march to it.

I for one, are beginning to blossom, like a beautiful lilac crocus in the spring, stepping out and listening to my music that is sitting within. My music is within my writing and sharing it with the world. My music is in my photography, that tells a story with every shot I take. My music is taking the time to send a note to a special someone in my life who has impacted me, and say thank you.

What is your music that is lying within that is waiting to be released? Have you always wanted to open up that restaurant on main street? How about those designer clothes that you envision creating for a store to sell? Maybe you’ve always wanted to be that singer on the stage, the traveller that gets to 10 continents or more. And what about the business you want to build or the volunteer baby cuddler at the hospital?

All of us feel something within. What are you waiting for? Go out and do what your music is playing for you. It’s never too late.

From Home on the Ranch

Sue

P.S. “Go live a life worth living where, in the end, you’ll be able to say,”I’m glad I did!” not “I wish I had.” Gary Keller

If You Shield the Mountain from the Wind

/ suefraser / 13 Comments

I listen to many podcasts, read self-help books as often as I can, and view many informational youtube channels. My mind is always soaking up many valuable life skills and knowledge to live by. My cup overflows with such content. And that is how I like it.

Some of my favorite people to listen too, living and deceased are Jim Rohn, Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Abraham Hicks, Brene Brown, Ed Mylett, Simon Sinek, Tony Robbins, to name just a few.

What I’ve come to realize over the last few years from all of these individuals, is that no matter the height of fame they bestow today, they all have a story. A unique story of their own. A story that each and every one of them, dared to share as they found their true calling in the world we live in.

“Nothing or no one is perfect. We are all imperfect but it’s the imperfections that what makes us perfect.”

Some came from homes where they were abused and broken. Others were loved, yet parents were abusers of alcohol, and in turn, the dynamics in the home became very different. Another lived in many foster homes, as his dad left forever and his mother couldn’t look after him and his brother. So many different backgrounds, for so many different people.

Yet, through the brokenness, the loneliness, the confusion of growing up, each and every one of those people I mentioned above along with you and I, have a story. And our story matters.

“Life is like a road. There are many twists, turns and straightaways as well as hills, valleys and sometimes mountains along the way. Be sure to enjoy the journey.”

Something else I have observed, is that our beginnings, is what molds us into the person we have become today. And it is a good thing. It was Wayne Dyer who spoke of living in several foster homes in his young life. He never got to meet his father, but only heard of the kind of man he was. And when Wayne became a man himself, he held so much anger for the father he did not know, and the abandonment he experienced.

Wayne chose to go to his father’s grave for one thing and one thing only. And that was to pee on it. And he did. When he was finished, he turned to walk away. One step, two step, three step, and then he stopped, turned and went back to the headstone. Wayne experienced an overwhelming sensation of tears and love swirl within him as he verbally forgave his father. Life changed for Wayne Dyer that day. His writing began to flow. His books began to sell.

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” J.K.Rowling

Wayne’s life may not have had the best solid foundation, but it was the best foundation for him. Wayne chose to love that day. And through his love, his life changed in ways he couldn’t have even imaged. And even though he’s crossed over the earthly plain, Wayne continues to change lives with his literature and taped speaking engagements thats available to anyone.

“Choose, everyday to forgive yourself. You are human, flawed, and most of all worthy of love.” Alison Malee

So embrace the life that you have lived thus far, as it has formed you into the beautiful soul you are today.

From Home on the Ranch

Sue

“If you shield the mountain from the wind storms, you’ll never see the beauty of the carvings. And the beauty of the carvings comes from being able to be in a state of gratitude for the storms that show up in our life.”

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross