Face Your Fears

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

Have you ever been scared to death? I have! It was about three and a half years ago, when an MRI revealed that I had a big problem in my neck – a problem that required a surgical intervention to fix it.

Being a nurse can certainly have its advantages and it can also be detrimental, in that you picture the worst. In my case, I was mortified of the anesthesia, and having a doctor working so closely to my spine was daunting at best! However, neglecting to have the surgery was a surefire way to become paralyzed and remain in severe pain. So…. it was off to the hospital for me.

My surgeon lives about a fourteen hour drive from our home, so we set off in the car on this adventure. About halfway to our destination, I burst into tears and shared with Ron how frightened I was. I said that I was afraid that if the surgery didn’t do me in, my fear would.

Now, I really had no choice but to face the thing I feared, but I didn’t have to face it alone. I suggested to Ron that perhaps he and my surgeon, a wonderful Christian man and the local pastor there, would pray together for me – a special service called an anointing. Ron agreed that it was a good idea.

The night before surgery, I met at the church with the three men, and the anointing took place. They prayed that my fear would be relieved and that the surgery would be successful. The next morning, as I was wheeled to the operating room, I sang. I sang a hymn that I had learned as a child. As the anesthetist was starting to put me to sleep, I continued singing, quietly to myself. What a way to go to sleep!

I faced my fear – the surgery and the anesthesia, but I took along with me the assurance, the fortitude that I had obtained the night before. I learned that day that I can face most anything as long as I am not alone.

How do you face your fears – or do you? What gives you the daring to look fear in the eye, and move forward anyway? Sure would love to hear from you! We’ll post some of your responses on the website.

Oh, by the way, the five hour operation was a big success!

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Getting to Five

I read a wonderful book this past week. As a matter of fact, I read it in two days! It was one of those books that just talks to you from it's shelf. I found it, believe it or not, in a discount store. "Buy that book," I kept hearing in my ear. So I picked it up and put it back three times, and finally listened to the voice in my head.

The title of the book is: If I Get to Five - What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character. It was written by Dr. Fred Epstein, a neurologist and neurosurgeon. It tells of his life as a pediatric neurosurgeon at New York University's Hospital and now at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan. Throughout his career, Dr. Epstein has pioneered new techniques for excizing brain and spinal chord tumors, and has operated on children of all ages and in all stages of disease; children from all corners of the globe. When other physicians would say, "Take your child home to die. There is nothing we can do for him," Dr. Epstein, disagreeing with the prognosis, has performed life-saving procedures successfully.

"We tend to think of children as fragile, little people," says Dr. Fred Epstein. "To me, they're giants." If I Get to Five is a tribute to the hidden strengths of childhood and the unstoppable life force that dwells within each of us.

Five years ago, Dr. Epstein suffered a traumatic brain injury and faced a daunting rehabilitation. He says that the advice of the children he'd saved helped illuminate his own path to recovery. Six of the lessons he had learned from the children he has cared for are the titles of the chapters. They are:

• Hold Someone's Hand
• Live in the Moment
• Face Your Fears
• Believe in Miracles
• Play to Your Strengths
• Love Without Boundaries

The lessons he learned from the children sound like great mottos to me! Perhaps in future blogs we'll look at them, one by one. Until then, see if you can find this good book. You'll cry a bit, laugh a bit, and be inspired a whole lot! It's a "Good for the Soul" book, in my opinion.

So fix a cuppa' tea and curl up with an uplifting, awe-inspiring book! You'll be glad you did.

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