“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon.

 

I was just standing in a queue in a newsagent where the guy in front of me was buying a lottery ticket, reflecting on a conversation I had this morning with a client. He was telling me about a book called 'The Big Leap' where the author, Gay Hendricks, talks about how fear and excitement create the same sensations in our body, but that we try to get rid of the feeling of fear by holding our breath. Excitement can also turn into fear by holding our breath - just think 'rollercoaster rides'.

 

Instead, he suggests, that when we experience the feeling of fear, we imagine that we're blowing out candles on a birthday cake. That way we're taking a big breath in and a long breath out - just what our body needs. And it also anchors a positive feeling, like when you were presented with a cake as a child and asked to make a wish.

 

Far better to blow out imaginary candles in the face of fear and state positively what you want, than chancing your luck with odds of 1:14,000,000 and hoping money will change your life!