Back to work after a break? Courage and daring greatly may set us on a good path..

When it's that moment to return to work after a break I can feel anxiety bubble up within me.

Choosing to work creatively and to have that at the centre of my practice leaves me open to possibilities but also open to nerves.

"What if what I know isn't enough" I can hear my inner voice saying. "What if there isn't I don't come up with something in the moment in response to the children's ideas to create a safe path through a session?" and of course the most frightening fear of all "what if I lose control of the session I am delivering".  

Value Courage Over Security

Surveys have shown that most people value "security" over just about everything else in their lives. People will put up with jobs that they don't like, partnerships that make them miserable, and habits that aren't good for them simply because they make us feel more secure. 

But to conquer fear, we must consciously dethrone "security" as the thing that we value most in our lives and replace it with "courage."  

Brene Brown, TED talk hero and author of the best-selling Daring Greatly, has found that the belief in our own unworthiness drives us to live fear-based lives. We are afraid of letting people see who we really are and potentially exposing ourselves, so we avoid the one thing that can make us more courageous: vulnerability. Courage and vulnerability are closely aligned, says Brown, and the two qualities can greatly improve our lives. 

Brown says that to conquer our fear we must "dare greatly," or go out there in the arena and expose ourselves to failure and criticism:

What might help is if we reframe fear into excitement

Let's face it, a life without fear--and without the courage to overcome fear - might be pretty bland and insipid.

Today, why don't we try to be excited whenever we discover something that we're afraid to do at work, because something wonderful might happen - provided we summon the courage to take action...