Overcoming Fear Essay

Fear can be a very crippling emotion. When I was little, my biggest fear was falling off of a bicycle. I was always afraid of bicycles because I watched my best friend fall off of one and break her arm. As I got older, however, I realized that learning how to ride a bike could be very beneficial, as well as a lot of fun. Something I did not know at the time, however, was that learning how to ride would end up being beneficial to me in other ways as well. One day, when I was about eight years old, I asked my grandfather if he would teach me how to ride the bicycle he had bought for me two years earlier. He looked at me and said, â€Å"Are you finally ready, honey?† After telling him yes, my grandfather said that he would take me out that Saturday and give me my first riding lesson. As Saturday approached, I grew more and more apprehensive. Part of me was really looking forward to learning how to ride, while the other part of me was scared to death of falling off and getting hurt. My grandfather seemed to sense my fear, and when Saturday arrived, he took me to the local bicycle shop. We went straight to the section of the store that had all kinds of knee and elbow pads, as well as other protective equipment for riding bicycles, skating, and other activities. He told me to pick out the knee and elbow pads I liked best and said that they would help prevent me from getting hurt if I fell off of my bike. When we got back home, he helped me put on my pads and then went and got my bicycle out of the garage. He showed me how to get on the bike, and then proceeded to walk beside me, holding onto the bike as I pedaled down the sidewalk. Once we turned the corner at the end of the block, my grandfather let go for the first time. He stayed right beside me, ready to catch me if I started to tilt sideways. I was only able to go a few feet before my grandfather had to catch me. He continued to encourage me to keep trying, and, after falling off several times, I was finally able to ride my bicycle up and down the sidewalk in front of my house without any help from my grandfather whatsoever. I learned that riding a bicycle was a lot easier than I could have ever dreamed. By buying me the knee and elbow pads and telling me that they would help protect me, my grandfather helped to diminish my fear of riding a bicycle. Now when I am faced with a situation that scares me, I think back to that day my grandfather taught me how to ride. I may still feel fear from time to time, but I know that I can overcome it by asking myself, â€Å"What will help me to conquer my fear?†Bibliography not needed – This is a true depiction of an actual event in my childhood.