Blog Entries tagged 'fear'

I'm scared & doing it anyway!

lauree@simplyleap.com — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:00:00 +0100

In June, I spoke at IgniteDC #4 about How My Brain Tumor Will Change Your Life. Watch me in action!

It was surprising how a certain catchphrase caught on that evening - you can hear the crowd at one point - and on Twitter since.

"I'm scared & doing it anyway. I'm taking fear by the hand and walking through the door."

I've written before about being scared. How admitting that means you can stop avoiding it, making it bigger than it is, and actually face what's in front of you more confidently.

This phrase means something else. I [...]

Being scared is brave

lauree@simplyleap.com — Tue, 18 May 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Part 2 of How My Brain Tumor Will Change Your Life is about being scared.

The day I was diagnosed in January 2004, I thought I had an ear infection and an MRI was supposed to make sure it wasn't more serious.

Unfortunately, it was.

Sitting in the doctor's office with a specialist I'd never met, I tried to make sense of the images of my skull projected on a screen.

First thought: my nose is crooked. I never knew that.

< [...]

Secrets & hiding from the truth

lauree@simplyleap.com — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100

I spent most of 2009 lying to everyone, including myself.

From lies to "protect" my loved ones from what I believed they didn't want to know, to putting a positive spin on everything lest I be judged (while all along I was the one judging myself).

Trust me: it's lonely caught in a vortex of denial and avoidance.

So what really happened?

I got divorced.

More than that, I flipped my life upside down. In the space of a month, I went from living in a brownstone on Manhattan's upper westside with a cushy disposable income, to living upstate with my dad, [...]

You're about to be found out

lauree@simplyleap.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Ever feel like an impostor? That all of your achievements were just luck, and any moment people will find out that you're not as smart as they think you are? Dr. Valerie Young calls it The Impostor Syndrome.

She hits on an important point. Behind the fear of being found out (and all fear) is a limited and limiting belief that hijacks your self-confidence.

As adults, we have pretty good holds on our fear. I imagine mine are hiding in deep, dark places in the recesses of my mind. Yes, they exist. No, I don't want to think about them.

Thing is, when they are [...]

Outside looking in

lauree@simplyleap.com — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 05:00:00 +0100

Three years ago I had surgery and was in the hospital for 15+ days. It was a defining moment in my life. I still shudder sometimes to think about it, yet it has also propeled me to who I am and what I'm doing today.

Recently, a close family member was told she too needed surgery, the serious kind with multiple days in the hospital, mulitple doctors and stages of recovery. In the days since hearing about this all of my fears and memories have resurfaced.

One of my biggest fears - you know the kind you brace against hoping it's not true, but not sure it isn't - is [...]