My three-year-old cousin raced around our downstairs yesterday. All joy and determination, he desperately wanted to go as fast as he possibly could around and around the center fireplace in our home.
He sped past stone corners un-childproofed, near wooden beams not padded to protect little heads, and by shelves that wouldn’t budge. The mom in me winced at every circuit. But he laughed and he ran and in all honesty, I don’t think it occurred to him he might fall.
At three you don’t worry about the stone hearth you might crack your head open on, you just worry about going fast and the fun you will have while doing it. You aren’t scared or stuck or stopped. At three, you don’t count the risks, weigh them and wonder if you will survive. You just run.
At three, you are free.
The opposite of fear isn’t courage. The opposite of fear is freedom.
The past year was a difficult one for me.
I got stopped and stuck and at times I wondered if I really was going to survive. I did not live a year that felt free. Instead it felt heavy and hard and bogged down.
I’m pretty sure I’m ready to run again. I’m ready to speed around the fireplace and not worry about the sharp corners. The sharp corners will always be there and I’m stupid to think I can avoid them and still live a life that is free and full of adventure.
So let’s ALL begin to run again. Let’s jump up and take a step forward and another one. And let’s take another one until the moving forward turns from a creep into a walk into a run. Let’s move with joy and with determination in the hope that this year is full of promise and of freedom.
I’m ready. Are you?
thank you. This post really touched my heart today. I wish I could say something profound to explain why/how, but I can’t. So I’ll just say thank you and do my best to take that jump with you this year.
will be praying for your freedom this coming year, sarah…..it’s the least i can do for all that i get our of your blog.
Sarah. Thank you so much for this post. It captures my horrendeous yet also blessed year perfectly. I pray God continues to give us strength and peace so that we might have that freedom for 2012. Your writing is such and gift and blessing to all.
“The opposite of fear isn’t courage. The opposite of fear is freedom.”
Oh my. You hit the nail on the head, Sarah! I’d never thought of it that way, but you’re absolutely right.
This last year has been, for me, a lot like you describe yours. I’ve been living in constant fear of the sharp corners. In trying to avoid them, I’ve locked myself in a prison of sorts.
But like you, I think I’m just about ready to run!
Prayers for you this coming year, Sarah!
I love it! Thank you for such encouraging words. I love all we can learn from our children; that is, if we take the time to watch and listen
Great post! I, too have spent most of 2011 held captive by fear. Let 2012 be a year of freedom! I’m with you!! Run, run, run!
Well said Sarah. Let this year be a year of faith, the kind of faith that frightens worry away
Amen! Freedom is a choice we all have to make
‘the opposite of fear is freedom’ – I like that.
In fact I love that! I’ve spent the last 6 years living in fear and about succumbed in the overcoming of it. The PTSD, the nightmares, the panic attacks. The last 6 months have been so much better.
You are so right. I had not thought of it that way before. I am beginning to feel free. Yes – I want 2012 to be a year of freedom; a year to run regardless.
Been thinking about this topic a lot over the holidays as I travel. About how life involves risk and stepping out of our comfort zone in order to be fulfilled. Love the way you painted a picture of freedom with your little one. Spot on.
I SO needed to hear this today! Sort of my motto going into 2012
yep, ready to run
I loved this post. Thanks for sharing.
I just love your posts! You are right. When we are young, we dream and take risks. As we age, we might feel courageous but not free. We’re too cautious. There is a way to be free but responsible. We just have to find it!
http://irishtripletsrecovery.blogspot.com/
Yes! I’m ready to run! This past year has been a difficult one for myself as well. It seems to be the case for many. I so want to be free! Let’s do it.
So So ready…
Oh am I ever ready! The last line of the book turned movie “The Help” spoken by Abileen Clark sums it up for me:
“God says we need to love our enemies. It hard to do. But it can start by telling the truth. No one had ever asked me what it feel like to be me. Once I told the truth about that, I felt free. And I got to thinking about all the people I know. And the things I seen and done. My boy Treelore always said we gonna have a writer in the family one day. I guess it’s gonna be me.”
No one ever asked me what it felt like to be me and once I was told the truth of who and Whose I am…and then began to live from that Truth…well I feel free!
I am anything but free and I so desperately want to be. Here is to taking one, small, hesitant step with you. Praying I will find myself running without abandon one day soon!
Great reflection! I am convinced that when Jesus held up a child as a model of faith, He meant much more than belief in God. Children have a way of living and trusting that us a model in many ways. Freedom. Joy. Humility. Love. May.we all keep learning from the kids around us!