FESS UP TO YOUR PHOBIA

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008,2010

Everybody’s got one. Even the rich and famous.

Movie rags claim Billy Bob Thornton freaks out when around antique furniture. He won’t stay in a hotel furnished with them.

Caution: Snake Area

Johnny Depp and Diddy both fear clowns, a condition known as coulrophobia.

Indiana Jones can’t abide snakes.

Others declare their panic at disorder and become natty neatniks or obsessive-compulsive.

Sometimes we call these conditions pet peeves or obsessions. When does it get to phobia stage? A phobia is “a persistent, abnormal, or illogical aversion or fear of a specific thing or situation” (The American Heritage Dictionary).

Hang-gliding

I certainly have mine. One thing for me. . .I can’t abide heights, especially while in a moving object. . .like a glass elevator, cable car, ski lift, hot air balloon. Or go hang-gliding! On the other hand, I've learned to relax, most of the time, in an airplane. Just don’t let there be turbulence. . .or, horrors, a transparent bottom.

Some fear is good. To stay alert. To be cautious in where you go, what you do. But paralysis to the point you can’t think or act. . .not so great.

Make a measure of peace with your most freaked-out fear. Especially if it prevents your being all God created you to be. Easy to say. Hard to do. Ask God to help you. To come to gritty grips with it. With his presence, his power, his purpose.

“Lord, calm my heart. Ease my mind. Give me one practical action to  fight this giant with a slingshot.”

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"Do not give way to fear" (I Peter 3:6 NIV).

What do you dread? What makes you apprehensive to the point of extreme angst. . .or terror? Do you dare even name it? And when you do, what have you done about it?

Download the full article, "31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace," at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm