'Come to the edge,' He said. They said, 'We are afraid.' 'Come to the edge,' He said. They came. He pushed them … and they flew.

-- Guillaume Apollinaire [1374]

Where is the edge? I suggest that the edge could be where many people who are trying to "beat their fears" find themselves today.

When one gets to the edge it is so easy to see only what ahead and forget what lies behind. This is fine unless what lies ahead fills one with fear. This changes the situation and causes a new dilemma. You know that you cannot stay where you are but the fear of what might be prevents you from moving forward, this leads to a feeling of hopelessness which makes the situation worse. It is a vicious circle that must be broken.

There are a couple of ways that could be used to get out of the situation.

1) Wait until where you are gets so uncomfortable that the fear of staying where you are is much bigger than the fear of where moving forward might lead. Not my recommended option but it is the one so many people choose.

2) Realise that your fears of what might be are of your own creation, which may also be based on previous bad experiences. Unless you can see in to the future there is no way that you could now what will happen. Just because it happened once it does not mean it will happen again. If one moves forward, carefully in a controlled and safe way, dealing with any blocks they find in their way then it is unlikely that past experiences will happen again.

Which way is the best? The choice is up to you, both could ultimately lead to the same place but one journey will be a lot less painful than the other.

Included below is a comment made by someone who went to their own "edge" and beyond it (it refers to dealing with dental phobia):

"I notice that a lot of us always say that things were never as bad as we imagined when we finally get to having treatment."

It is my belief that anyone who has beaten their fears will agree with that statement. I also believe that before they "beat their fears" they would not have believed it.

I invite you to come to the edge, you won't be pushed, but if you choose to jump the net will be there or you too will be able to fly (metaphorically speaking of course:))