What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid? w/ J. Rosemarie Francis

J. Rosemarie Francis (00:00)

What are you afraid of and what would you do if you weren't afraid?

It's hard to keep your

So when this fight

In the last episode, I talked about anger and discussed the reasons we may be triggered and quickly get angry and react in anger based on what someone says or do. And I also talked about ways we can manage that anger and redirect that anger. In this week's episode, I want to talk about

Another emotion that seemed to plague solo moms, and that one is fear. Webster described fear as an unpleasant, often strong emotion that is caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. So how does fear manifest itself in our lives? And how does it affect the way we raise our children?

the way we communicate with our children and the way our relationship, the way we build relationship with others and the how we manage the ongoing relationship with co-parents. So let's have a look at that, you know, that fear that we feel on an ongoing basis and why it is that we have this fear.

because fear is just an emotion. And it can be caused by a lot of things. But the truth is that a lot of times, and from my experience, I could tell you this story, that a lot of times when my sons were a teenager, we were living in New York City, and I lay awake at night a lot of times when they were out at church or wherever they were. And I was,

fearful of what would happen to them on the streets of New York City. But it was just fear. It was me being afraid of something that isn't happening, but I think I anticipated happening. The other thing I had a fear about, and I had this fear from the time I was a child, I always had a fear of being homeless.

And that type of fear can cause you to act in certain ways. It could make you work harder than you really should. It could make you take any job just so you could make enough money so you could keep the roof over your head so you're never homeless. And I mean, I could go down a rabbit hole about this, but I don't want to. I just want to touch on a few things that

Fear can motivate us to do. Fear can motivate us to, in the way we raise our children. We might be, for instance, my middle son wanted to learn how to cook, but I was so fearful of him burning down the house or burning himself or anything. I wouldn't teach him how to cook.

You know, that's not a good thing. That's not a good fear to have because it was unfounded. And rather than teaching him how to cook or allowing him to, you know, to, to, to experiment with my guidance, I just wouldn't do it. I couldn't do it because I was so fearful. And so what are you afraid of today and what

Fear keep you bound, frozen, and so that you stand in your kid's way. So I want you to think about that. Think about this emotion, fear, and what it is doing to you and to the way you're raising your children and the way you're living your life. Second Timothy, one verse seven says,

God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, of self-control. So being fearful is not, is not a God-given thing. It is something that breeds from

not having hope or not having a trust or not being steady, not having an anchor, not being steady in your well-being. So I hope that you're able to think this through and ponder this through just by listening to this. Why are you fearful? And the second part I want to talk about is what would you do if you weren't afraid? I read a book last year.

And it was a book with that title. What would you do if you weren't afraid? And it opened my mind to a lot of possibilities because I realized that sometimes we hold ourselves back with excuses, know, all reasons, call it what you may.

or other people will voice their opposition to our plans when we share what we want to do with them. They voice their opinion and it's based out of fear. I'm realizing that a lot of times when I have a thought to do something and I push it aside with I don't have enough money or

I don't know enough about that or something like that. It's all fear. So what would you do, solo mom, if you weren't afraid? Again, it's one of those things that can rule your life, R-U-L-E, but it's also one of those things. If you don't become the master of that fear in you,

It could ruin your life, R-U-I-N. Right? Because, you know, you could manage fear to drive you to do something that is beneficial, that is useful. But if it becomes destructive where you're not doing the things you know you're supposed to do, or it stops you from even thinking wisely, then...

I encourage you to do Psalm 56-3, when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you, right? Because sometimes, you know, we're not afraid of anything per se, we're just afraid, right? And if we stop to think, well, what am I afraid of, one, and number two, and what would I do if I wasn't afraid?

What would I do if I wasn't afraid to write that book? What would I do if I was afraid to study law and get my law degree? What would I do? What would I be if I wasn't ⁓ too afraid to start that podcast, to get on that stage and start speaking? What would I do? What would I

be what would I be doing if I wasn't afraid? Ask yourself, Solomom, those questions. I'm J. Rose Marie, and I'm always happy to talk with you. I'm always happy to share with you. And I am so glad that the Lord encouraged me in this space to start Solomom's Talk podcast. I'm delighted that I've had the opportunity

to meet so many women from all across the world, to talk to them, to share their story. It's really an amazing thing to hear others and to watch the light go on in their eyes when we talk. And so I'm here for you, solo mom. Drop me a line, send me a text, say hello, DM me.

I'm here for you. And don't forget, I still love the intention of setting up Solo Moms Connect. Well, it's set up. It's ready for you. I'm just waiting for you Solo Mom. So what would you do if you weren't afraid? Thank you for listening.

J. Rosemarie Francis (09:43)

Grab my free ebook, Anger, Worry, and Fear.