I’ve been following the media coverage of the women in Ohio found after being held captive for ten years. My heart truly breaks for what they had to endure year after year at the hands of three disgusting men whom at the very least should have their freedoms taken away for far longer than the ten years of hell they put these women through. I cannot even imagine the horrors these women had to live through physically, mentally, and emotionally.

In light of this event, there have been many articles on past kidnapped victims, all of which had been rescued after years of imprisonment and after being interviewed the common theme is that they didn’t try to escape out of fear. Their fear kept them in virtual handcuffs and prevented them from walking out of an unlocked front door to their freedom. Which makes Amanda Berry even more courageous at her escape with her 6-year-old daughter.

Fear is an issue that I’ve been pondering quite a bit these last few weeks and trying to chart the patterns in my life where I have been held back by fear. Quite debilitating, it can keep us from the life we were truly meant to live! Fear has been a thief of my joy too many times to count.

Fear used to be a mechanism to protect us from danger and doing stupid things. Yet, now we’ve overcorrected and are willing to run at the first sign of possible pain/danger. We indulge in our fears now, using it as an excuse or a way to avoid taking responsibility and facing it head on. We take the thing that we fear and we run far and fast to avoid it. I know firsthand, sadly.

Seth Godin wrote a great blog post about avoiding the emotion of fear earlier this week. Read it HERE.

It renewed my commitment to face my fears head on. I am the only one holding me captive, holding me back from the life I want, the life I crave. I don’t want to look back 10 years from now and realize that I was imprisoned by nothing more than my mind, enslaved by my fears, and being robbed of everything life has to offer.

What is holding you back today?