COPING WITH HIGHER & HIGHER

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008

In a rush to get to my 20^th floor room at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida hotel, I didn’t realize until the door shut: glass elevator!  Distracted by the beautiful surroundings and excitement of the moment, one of my fiercest fears rudely intruded. I don’t do moving heights too well, especially when I can view it happening.

My traveling companion quickly surmised the situation. She turned me around, pushed me against the one solid wall. I shut my eyes and tried to quell the rising panic.

Since I was the main inspirational speaker for the womens retreat, I didn’t think it too cool to take up the director’s offer to move to a main floor room. A coward's choice. Surely I needed to provide some sort of courage model. Determined to conquer the descent and ascent … if not with aplomb, at least with a sort of coping mechanism intact … I walked (okay, sometimes I crawled) down the very narrow hallway that overlooked the lobby far, far below … to get to my room.

I did survive the weekend … by taking as few elevator rides as possible, by seeing how long I could go without squeezing my eyes and hang gliding on the door. The best part … this trial provided great fodder for my talks. The laughter and teasing even softened the terror.

“I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 CEV).

Note: I’m reading a wonderful devotional book for 2011: Max Lucado’s Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear … so helpful for life’s dreads and disquiets.

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