If i wasn’t afraid…

This past week i was in a workshop in Dubai organised by the Facebook Middle East and Africa office. I learnt in two days what would have taken me months but that’s not the purpose of today’s post. On the walls at the offices, there are different posters that speak to some of Facebook’s beliefs and values. All the posters spoke to me but one in particular stood out and it was written What would you do if you were not afraid?

I have been reflecting on this over the last few days and it occurred to me that there are things i did not do because i was afraid. Afraid that i would fail, afraid of rejection and afraid of disapproval.

I started this blog over five years ago just a year after our first daughter was born. I felt overwhelmed as a first time mum trying to balance my work demands and my family demands. I therefore started writing down some of the challenges i was facing and how i was dealing with them. Because of the fears i mentioned above, i did not link my blog to any of my social media pages. Once in a while i would share a link to the blog on my Facebook page and only tag close family members. I feared disapproval and rejection if i put it out there. I had many ‘what ifs’.

At the beginning of this year i resolved to deal with my fears and see what would happen. I rebranded my blog, opened up Facebook and Instagram pages and a Twitter handle. I can tell you right now that pushing through my fears is actually less frightening than living with the fear from helplessness. It’s still early days but the responses to my blog posts show me that there are other young working mothers out there who are wondering how to manage it all and if i wasn’t afraid, i would have created this platform earlier.

What would you do if you were not afraid? Share your feedback in the comments section. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Mom In Stilettos