Jobs. It’s the word you’ve been hearing repeatedly for the past couple of years. It’s what Republicans claim President Obama has failed us on. It’s what many Americans find themselves looking for day after day, interview after interview. I recently started a new job of my own this week. I am still in training and I like the way things are going so far. However, today, I had a conversation with a co-worker of mine that left me feeling a bit melancholy. She is an older middle-aged Caucasian woman who was having trouble learning all of the software and programs we were being taught in training. The look of despair in her face would make even the most dangerous thug tear up. She was explaining to me that she didn’t think she was going to get the hang of things. I told her she could look at my notes and I would help her if she had any questions. She went on to say, in a low, voice, as if she had forgotten she was even talking to me, “I’m scared they’ll fire me if I don’t learn it soon…I really need this job.”

She stared off for a minute and I lent her some encouraging words to combat that claim.

 

This was a woman who had held a job her entire life but was now forced to take a job for a few weeks and learn processes that the majority of the class had already understood. I could see her pride diminish. She is older and her brain and memory aren’t as sharp as they used to be, but they needed to be, because she needed this job. My heart instantly hurt for this woman. Her words played through my head “I’m scared they’ll fire me…”

 

The main issue here was fear. At some point in life, we all end up suited up, gloves on, smack dab, in the middle of the ring with, fear. I listened to actor, Hill Harper, speak at a graduation last year and he defined fear using the acronym: False Evidence Appearing Real. I’ve held onto that quote. It’s the truth. The things that we fear can become very real if we let them. The mind is a terrible to thing to waste, we all know that phrase, but the mind is also a terrible place to harbor fears. I encourage everyone to really think about what it is you’re afraid of. What is stopping you from conquering your dreams, or your realities? Once you’ve determined what your fear is, the only thing that will get rid of it is to speak life into the situation. You have to conquer the fear while it is forming in your mind; speak positivity to it, and I PROMISE you, it’s as if you’ve opened up a can of, “Fear-Be-Gone!” The only thing that can conquer the negative thoughts and barriers that are constantly being cultivated and bred in our minds is positivity. Speak life into your situation!