fear of fear

I have been doing a lot of soul-searching for a couple of years now and I have come to the realization that fear seems to unwillingly be a part of my life.  Granted everyone has fears.  Fear of flying (guilty).  Fear of heights (guilty, depending on the height).  Fear of public speaking.  Fear of rejection.  Fear of FEAR!!

I have realized that I have a fear of failure.  I find myself inspired with an idea, I even go as far as to make a plan with goals and time lines and then…..nothing.

I’m afraid that my plan will not succeed.  That I will let myself down, maybe even let others down and I will feel nothing but a big ‘ol failure.  Just the thought of it is enough to tuck my tail between my legs and go hide under a chair.

However I am realizing how debilitating this fear can actually become.  Imagine something stopping you from your destiny, from your dreams and from doing something meaningful and fabulous, from something that can completely change your life in a way you have only dreamed of!  I feel like that is even scarier than fearing failure itself! And that final thought is what finally allowed me to realize that I can no longer let this fear control my life and stop me from living, growing and succeeding.  It is one of my new year resolutions to not allow fear of failure  stop me from doing the things I want/need to do.

I can be certain that some of the most influential, powerful, successful people in our history have been afraid at one point but they carried on anyway and now we will always remember Martin Luther King, Jr as the leader of the african-american civil rights movement, fighting for equality and justice in a humane and peaceful manner.  It is reported that Thomas Edison tried thousands of times to invent the light bulb before he finally succeeded, simply stating “I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.  Gotta love that attitude!

Can you imagine what the world would be like today if these influential people let fear get in the way of their destiny?  Now imagine what your world will be like if you let fear get in the way of YOUR destiny…and what it CAN be like if you ignore that fear and carry on with your head held high ready to take on any obstacle and set back until you do succeed.  And even if you do fail, that’s totally okay.  Get back up, dust off those knees, and carry on.

How else are we to improve and change and evolve if we don’t have set backs and failures to reflect upon??

I have come to realize that my fear of fearing failure is far greater than fearing failure itself and I will not let that control my life anymore.

 

Feel free to leave a comment if you share the same experience of any type of fear you feel is holding you back from living your life to the fullest.

 

(A lesson learned)…Kale and Chicken Stir Fry with Peanuts

I used to have a favorite recipe for Singapore Noodles.  I’m kicking myself for not writing it down then.  Lesson learned!

So I am on a quest to recreate that recipe and I have a feeling I won’t be disappointed along my journey 🙂

As much as I want to call this dish Singapore noodles, I am missing some ingredients.  So I will simply call it a stir fry.

Yields 3 servings

Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breasts, sliced

1/2 head of broccoli, cut in pieces

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 large handfuls of chopped kale

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

2 tsp fish sauce ( i know it sounds gross, but trust me it adds a great flavor to any recipe that calls for it)

3 TBSP soy sauce

2 tsp curry powder

1 TBSP sesame seeds

1/4 cup peanuts

sesame seed oil

Himalayan sea salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

noodles or rice

Directions:

1.  Add 2 TBSP of sesame seed oil over med-high heat and cook garlic for ~20-30 seconds or until fragrant.  Add sliced chicken and cook until done, ~ 7 minutes. 

2.  Meanwhile, in a separate bowl and kale and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and massage the kale for ~3 minutes.  This breaks down the tough cellulose and wilts easier while cooking.

3.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  In same pan, add another 1 TBSP of sesame seed oil, grated ginger, fish sauce, soy sauce, curry powder, massaged kale and remaining vegetables.  Give it a good toss, add a few TBSP of water to get a good stir fry action going on, cover with a lid and cook for ~7 minutes or until broccoli is cooked to your liking, occasionally tossing up the veggies and sauce.  

4.  In the last few minutes of cooking, add cooked chicken, peanuts and sesame seeds.  Toss everything together, cover and cook for ~2 more minutes.

5.  While all this is going on, you should be cooking your choice of starch as well.  I chose these asian noodles called “bean threads” aka glass noodles, but rice will work well with this stir fry, or you can keep it starch free and leave it with chicken and veggies alone.  If you using noodles, add it to the pan and mix it around to let it soak up all the saucy goodness.

 

I feel like I am so close to recreating my Singapore noodles recipe.  Next time I will add rice wine vinegar, cilantro, rice vermicelli noodles instead of glass noodles, and more curry powder (all these are commonly found in Singapore noodles recipes).  When I nail it I will be sure to share the goodness 🙂