Rae Clauser
The definition of fear isn’t just limited to the feeling you get if you turn around and find yourself standing 5 feet from a saber tooth tiger----which is not behind iron bars.
It includes being afraid of a situation that puts you outside your comfort zone, or the discomfort felt when trying something new, or simply thinking about something in a whole new light.
Some of us may have had uncomfortable feelings about coming to India on our first volunteer project. Wasn’t there some kind of fear that made many of us shy away from being the first person on the team to make the journal entry? With today being the first day on our job assignments, I’m sure we all experienced apprehension as we thought about what our day would be like, what challenges would be presented to us, or some degree of fear about performing as well as we’d like.
On our first day our duties were varied. We tended to the sick in a hospital, we scrapped and scrubbed a wall for painting in the Children’s Home or we taught nursery rhymes to 3 year olds. We taught English grammar to 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, or we held and nurtured babies. And at the end of the day we all played and shared time with the kids at the orphanage.
Whatever fear or apprehension or uncomfortable feelings we may have had was put aside and replaced with a joy that comes from seeing the bright smiles on the faces of children as they anxiously await our arrival.
How many opportunities do we get to make 40+ new friends, experience a whole new culture, have a huge personal growth experience and help other people? This doesn’t come up everyday in our normal everyday life, but we have this opportunity everyday for the next 14 or 21 days.
Did we have a good day? NO….we had a GREAT day!
Quote for the Day
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 you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
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