Fear sucks. She and I have known each other for a while now. Acquaintances only, though. Not friends. She’s a bully. A con artist. She whispers lies in my ears, lies she wants me to believe. And I believe them. Sometimes, when I’m low, I invite her in. She comes over and makes herself at home. There’s times when she hangs out at my place for hours. Other times she chills with me for days on end. Honestly, it doesn’t even matter how long she’s with me. Any length of time at all is way too long. All she wants to do is drill defeat, misery, depression, awkwardness, and angst into me. She loves to watch me wallow in my woes.
She gets in my headspace when I let her hang around. I trust the untruths she spews at me. I believe whatever she says and take it as god’s honest truth. It’s during those times she can do no wrong. I trust her advice and lap up her energy like a thirsty dog. But, there are times when I tell her to piss off, go screw herself, and find some other flunky to intimidate.
One day she was pretty upset that she didn’t get her way with me. I wasn’t having the crap she was doling out. So you know what that chick did? Without my permission, she invited two of her really good friends over. She introduced me to Panic and Anxiety. They were no better than her. Not nice at all. The three of them were tight . . . like the Three Musketeers. Like Our Gang in the Little Rascals. Like all the toys in all the Toy Story movies. Like all the dudes in Ocean’s Eleven. Twelve. And Thirteen. All for one and one for all. They were tormentors. Frightening. They were alarmists whose only goal was to unnerve me and make me freak out. But, when I was at my lowest, I let them in. They even tried to bring a fourth friend over to meet me. . . Hysteria.
But you see, I’ve got friends too. As soon as I caught onto Fear’s modi operandi, I had a dinner party and invited MY two partners over. I don’t think Fear, Panic and Anxiety really cared that much for my besties, Faith and Overcomer. That wicked trio weren’t too kind towards my friends. I wonder why? Could it be that Faith plugged my ears and Fear’s lies were blocked right off the bat? Could it be that Faith left no room for Panic and Anxiety to fester in my psyche, filling my head with nothing but positivity and optimism? Or could it be that Faith only let snapshots of confidence and conviction crowd my headspace? And Overcomer. She’s no joke that one. She’s a friggin conqueror. She took the weaknesses that Fear and her posse put in me, lassoed them up, removed all temptations and distractions, and flicked them aside like a dead mosquito. After that showdown, I couldn’t see anything but triumph blocking my vision, along with a HUGE sign that read “VICTORY OVER DEFEAT”. Yeah, she’s da bomb.
Fear is relentless though. She keeps coming back. But whenever she tries to visit me, I turn to Faith and Overcomer and laugh, “What’s her name? Fear? Never met her. We’ve never been introduced.”
