Facing Fears

At the gym we go to, there is a man who looks like Mr. Clean.

The boys look at him like he is a super hero.

One day when he was about to teach a spin class (he is a trainer at the gym), he had his microphone and tried to be funny with the boys. He said in a very loud and amplified voice, “What are you doing?”

It scared Maxim so much that he ran away from me and tried to run through the door of the gym.

He was so scared by this that he kept saying, “I don’t want Steve to scare me.”

Months of this went on with me telling him, “Steve is a good guy. He was just joking with you.”

His brother Alex would get excited when he would see Steve. He would say, “I am not afraid,” as he changed his posture and then said, “I am powerful.” This is one of the affirmations we have been working on with him since he was a baby (and it is also part of the Enlightened Kid Program).

The other day we were walking into the gym and Maxim saw Steve and started to turn away in fear.

I stopped, got down to his level and said, “Are you powerful?”

“Yes.”

“Then be brave.”

He then said, “I am not scared of Steve. I am powerful.”

He then went over to Steve and “fist pumped” him.

I always encourage my boys to face their fears and when they do come up (and they will – they do for everyone), it is important to face them.

Fears will be a part of life at any age. What is most important is what we do with those fears.
Click here for more information about the Enlightened Kid Program.