The year was 1950. My mother had just had her seventh boy - her eleventh child. We lived in Great Falls, Montana. My dad was an itinerant preacher, (not the kind of profession that provides abundantly for a family that size.)

My older brothers had paper routes or sold papers on the downtown streets of the city. At the end of the day they often ended up with extra papers they couldn’t sell. The papers cost two and a half cents apiece and my dad hated to see that money go to waste.

I was only seven, but I think he must have hated to see my life going to waste, too. One evening he handed me the left over papers and told me to go to the corner grocery store and sell them. I had never done that in my life, but my dad was not one to argue with.

I know the perfect antidote to fear. "Ya’ just do what ya’ gotta do," whether you are afraid or not. Of course, I was more afraid of my dad than I was of the people I might have to talk to. That helped motivate me a lot. Anyway, I’ll never forget the first guy I talked to. I timidly stuck a paper out in front of me a little bit and asked, "Would you like to buy a paper?" He didn’t bite me, get mad at me or laugh at me. He just grinned real big and said, "Sure, kiddo!" and pulled out a nickel and gave it to me. My first business venture and I was a success already! Everybody thought I was the cutest little paperboy they had ever seen. The other papers went fast.

Ya’ know something? I didn’t stand a chance in life. I didn’t stand a chance of ever becoming an introvert. I was forced to break past the barriers of timidity and shyness before I even knew they existed.

But, for those of you who would like to overcome a bashful nature, just know this for a fact, you never do it in a hurry. One time on the streets was not enough to turn me into an outgoing extrovert. But, my dad was a persistent teacher. Night after night, I ended up at the grocery store. He loved the small profits this was bringing in, so he asked my brothers to bring home extra papers on purpose!

If you want someone to excel in life, keep giving them bigger and bigger challenges. I couldn’t sell all the papers at the store, so I dared to venture on down to the Deaconess Hospital. At first, I just sold papers in the lobby, but I learned that by sneaking up and down the halls I could find extra customers. I wanted the praise for selling all my papers and I didn’t want my dad’s disapproval when I brought some home. Motivation is the key to overcoming shyness and fear of people. I was motivated.

Success sometimes breeds greed or greed sometimes demands success. I don’t know which is which. Anyway, my dad’s ambitions were greater than mine. He finally decided that I should walk the mile or so to the newspaper office to buy my own papers. That way I could get an earlier start and sell more papers. This was new territory. It was the unknown. But, I couldn’t afford to be afraid of the unknown. Whether I wanted to or not, I had to trample all over fear in order to get my papers and get back home again. Off I went each day with 50 cents in my pocket. That would buy 20 papers.

New challenges produce new discoveries. I came across an ice cream factory on my way home. Since fear didn’t want to go in, I made him wait outside for me. I had papers to sell and I knew the people in there weren’t going to come outside to buy my papers. He who always waits for success will still be waiting while others go out and find it for themselves. Anyway, that’s when I discovered there are always side benefits to the most difficult tasks. Each time I stopped at that place, I was given a bit of free ice cream. Just think! Fear could have made me pass up all that free ice cream, plus the newspaper sales. Fear never was a smart businessman. Fear has never been the prime ingredient for success. I wonder why people hang onto to him so?

Anyway, let me make a good point here. Repetition is the key to good learning. Write a word down 20 times and chances are you will always know how to spell it. See it only once and that’s not likely. How do you learn to play the piano? Little by little - over and over - the same way you learn to play the banjo, the flute or the trumpet. Practice is merely the repetition which is necessary for success.

Face a fear only once and it will never go away. Face it again and again and it will soon become afraid of you. Pursue it and it will flee, but run from it and it will overtake you. People bluff their way through poker games and through life and sometimes you have to bluff your way past fear. There are times when you need to feel the fear but act as though you are not afraid. Keep acting and pretty soon you will be playing the part perfectly.

At other times, bluffing is not the way to go. It might be better to just admit to others that you are feeling some fear or anxiety, but let them know that you intend to push your way past those uncomfortable feelings. After all, that’s all fear is - an emotion. But, it’s an emotion that’s not supposed to govern your life. It is not supposed to stifle your creativity. It is not supposed to paralyze your soul and your body. Fear is never supposed to rule over any individual or any society. It was meant to protect a person from real and obvious danger. It was designed to produce an extra amount of energy in times of peril. When it robs you of the motivation to face a true and noble challenge, it has been perverted. That’s when it needs to be severely renounced and cut to pieces.

Have no mercy on fear when it robs you of your ability to do what is right and good. Grab it by the scruff of the neck and drag it with you into the fight or tell it to ‘get lost’ while you go on without it. Who needs fear anyway? It never did put bread on the table or sugar in the pantry. We can do without it.

The man who stands up to speak to the people while he is afraid, will soon discover that fear will eventually let him walk to the podium alone. Why? Because that creature called "fear" is afraid and he can’t take it. When he sees that you are determined to go contrary to his counsel over and over again he will leave you alone. Someone once said, "When you do that which you fear, the death of fear is certain!" When it is a ‘stubborn fear’, you may only make him sick at first, but if you keep it up, he will simply give up and die! So, whatever you do - don’t let him win. He’s not worth it. He will never make you any smarter, richer, or stronger. He’s a loser and he’s trying make you just like himself. Don’t ever remain afraid unless that’s the way you want to be forever. Dare to challenge your fears, again and again. Don’t lay down like a wimp and let them keep running over you. Stand up to them like a man!

JEven if you’re a woman!J

I had to overcome fear before I even knew how to spell it. I think it’s probably easier to overcome some fears when you’re young. They are mere sprouts at that time of your life. They haven’t gained strength yet. They haven’t become intertwined with various aspects of your life. But, let them get a toe-hold and the struggle is much worse. Let them become entrenched in your life and it will seem impossible to overcome them. But, that’s not true! Nothing in this life is impossible, especially if you can get God on your side of the fight. The more difficult the battle, the greater the victory. The longer the ordeal, the sweeter the triumph. Take two years of college and the rewards are minimal. Get a four year degree and you command a greater degree of respect. But, the doctors who spend 12 grueling years preparing for their practice are insuring for themselves a greater success. No matter how long it takes, break past the fear barriers of your life.

Don’t look to me for a simple "one, two, three" formula for victory. Every fear is different and every individual is unique. The way my grandmother overcame fear may not work for me. Not everyone can start selling newspapers when they are seven years old. My advice may not fit your circumstances. But, my words can motivate you to at least get up and try. The man who never looks for answers will sit forever on an ant bed of confusion or languish on a bed of lethargy. Neither option is desirable.

Fear is a liar. He says you can’t, when ‘down deep’ you know you can. He warns you of dangers that do not exist. He paints pictures of ‘boogey men’ in the dark, but can never produce them in the light.

Fear is a con man and a deceiver of the worst kind. You’ve got too much pride to let a salesman fleece you into buying something you don’t want. But, you’ll sit there and let that ‘lying fear’ tie you in knots. You’ll let him put the handcuffs on you and lead you wherever he wants you to go or you will let him keep you from going where you want to go. That doesn’t make much sense to me. Why should you stay bound to him? He doesn’t add a thing to your life! He’s a real couch potato who won’t lift a finger to help you and won’t let you do a thing to help yourself. He’s a jealous taskmaster who won’t treat you right and yet won’t let you go find someone who will.

Personally, I think you ought to stand up and say, "Fear, I’m filing for a divorce! I’ve had all I can take of you. You can contest the divorce if you want to, but it’s not going to work. I’ve made up my mind. I love ‘courage’ more than I do you, and one way or another I’m going to put courage into my life and get rid of you for good!"

It may be a long, bitter battle, but if you are determined to win, you will. If you will persist and persevere, you will come out on top. You will accomplish something worthwhile. You will break the back of that tormenting fear that has kept you down for so long. You will make it out of that ‘Iron Curtain Country" where fear is a dictator of the worst kind. You will make it past the barbed wire, the barking dogs and even the machine gun fire that threatens your life. If you listen to the sound of those threats, you will never make it. Just keep your eye on the goal and keep moving away from fear - steadily and surely. Don’t give up until you know for sure that you have made it all the way to ‘free world soil’! Is there any reason why you shouldn’t be free?

There is no law that says you have to be afraid if you don’t want to. There is no law that says you have to be afraid forever. If you don’t like to be afraid then get up and begin moving. Don’t let fear pin you to the ground anymore. Be a pioneer of a new frontier. Be a leader of those who are tired of the oppression of fear and anxiety. Rise up against the tyranny of such ‘inner helplessness’ and hopelessness.

Create a national anthem for your soul and begin to sing it every day. Sing out loudly about boldness and courage. Sing about trust, peace and tranquility in the face of challenges. Sing about ‘confidence’and pursue it! March to the beat of a daring personality. Go where you’ve never gone before. Do what you’ve never done before. Do it again and again. Jump out of your rut! Take a different path. Learn a skill you’ve never tried. Try something new - for no other reason than to ‘beat the stuffing out of fear’! Practice mental judo jabs. Learn some karate chops, while you are at it. Put fear where it belongs - on the mat and on it’s back! Don’t let him intimidate you anymore! Declare this to be an ‘off-season’ for bullies. Tell worry and anxiety that their time is up. They can’t hassle you anymore. Don’t apologize when you kick them out of your life. Decide to live confidently, no matter what. Grab ‘fear of failure’ by the shoulder and dance him right off the dance floor. Come back and grab that ugly dude called, ‘dread’ and dump him over the railing onto the patio below. Tell him to ‘get lost.’ Tell him this is your party and you’re in control from now on. Grab the mike and start singing,

and I’ll never crouch in the barn anymore.

My daddy didn’t send me out on the street just to sell newspapers. He sent me out there to learn something from life - something I could share with others.

That time has come. I’m doing my part! On the playing field of life, I’m throwing you a pass. What are you going to do with it?

Go for it!