Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

Do these words have meaning for you? Are you able to live them? Is your faith that strong? For most of us, the answer is probably no. Many people go through life in worry and fear. Is that project Im working on gonna fail? Wheres Johnny? Hes late! Do you think something happened to him? Is [he, she] ever going to love me like I do them? Why hasnt he/she called? Im late for work. Is the boss gonna fire me?

I note that all fears are based on thoughts about the future. Even when someone has a gun pointed at you, the fear concerns that future moment when they pull the trigger and the bullet is propelled into your body. When you are worried about Johnny being late, you are actually thinking about the moment you find out why. When you are living in the future, you cant enjoy the present. It is difficult to avoid worry and fear. We are only human, arent we?

Fear of failure is a common fear for many, though not always recognized as such. Most would simply say that they are worried, not afraid. But, the feeling is basically the same. Maybe its not as strong in one words definition as the other, but it is still the same kind of feeling, at least for me. It seems that it is always about some future event. Maybe that event is important, maybe not. Sometimes the importance is very much exaggerated, especially by young folks.

Most worry is a fruitless expenditure of time and energy. Most of the imagined disasters , never materialize. Sometimes we tend to bring about the very disaster we fear, simply because we fear it. Worrying about making a mistake during a recital, job interview, book review, stage performance, or about any physical effort such as bowling or golf, can actually cause you to make that mistake. Thats the picture in your mind as you go into the event. Experience suggests that picturing what you want to happen, instead of what you dont want to happen, works much better.

The same goes for life in general. When you picture the results you want, you can often achieve them. Dorothea Brande stated in her 1936 book, Wake Up And Live, that you work best when you act as if its impossible to fail.

. . . I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Remember, the Lord is with you every step of the way. You can always ask Him to help, regardless the challenge. He will help. It may not be the way you thought, and it may take longer than you want, but He will answer your prayers, if you believe, i.e. know he will. If you know He will help, then why worry?

2004 David M. Butcher