I went to visit a friend a few weeks ago
I came home with a huge colorful bruise
I should probably stop here
It wasn’t near as dramatic as it sounds
Well at least to me it wasn’t
I was standing there waiting on the dog to sniff me
Instead of just sniffing he lunged forward and bit my stomach
It all happened so quickly all I could do was laugh
However I was the only one standing there laughing
Everyone else thought it was a super serious thing
I’ve always called bruises and scars battle wounds
Now I just had another battle wound to show off
And a cool new story to tell that has earned lots of gasps and laughs
I’ve told this story lots since leaving my friend’s house and coming home
I have kind of become a broken record
I ask if they want to see something cool
Then I tell the story and lift my shirt to show the bruise
It’s quite comical to gauge how people will react
But really that’s the only time I give it thought
The room is quite and needs some livening up
So I offer up a fun story of how I was bit by a dog
At least that was the only time I thought it ever crossed my mind
I have recently realized how wrong I was
Multiple times since being home I’ve walked down my driveway to the mailbox
Every time I get to a certain point two decently sized dogs begin to bark
They make their way for me and I notice my steps becoming quicker
I try my hardest to not make eye contact
I fix my eyes on the mailbox walking briskly by this point
Shoving the letter in the mailbox I quickly make a move back towards my house
You should know I have never been afraid of dogs
I am not an animal lover
But I have never been fearful of them
Until this incident happened
And unknowingly at the time created a fear of dogs in me
I had become someone who walked fast to try to escape the dogs
I was now changing the path I took to go running to avoid the scary animals
Fear had overcome me
Sure it was a super simple fear
But in a part of my life it was controlling my actions
I had been out for a run and was topping the hill
About to see my driveway and be finished for the day
When I hear it
The barking of the dogs
I am about to change my path back to the house to avoid the dogs
When I think of how ridiculous all of this is
If I don’t face this fear it will continue to control my actions
So instead of going a different direction
Or looking down so I don’t make eye contact
I look straight ahead at the dogs and walk towards them
The closer I get the less the dogs bark
Until finally they quit barking and quietly walk alongside of me
I made it back to the house without another battle wound
But there was still a cool story
I learned a lot about fear that day
I learned that if I don’t face my fears I’m going to let fear dictate my actions
If I don’t look fear in the eyes and stare it down it will alter my path
And that’s just not going to happen anymore
What fears are controlling you?
Oh my gosh that looks terrible!! I can’t believe one of your friends let that happen to you…she must feel AWFUL!
I sure hope she doesn’t feel terrible…I got a cool story and a battle wound from it!