Facing Fear and NYC

A Letter to a Friend

by Al Vadon

I think that it is great that you had the courage to conquer your fears, deal with a novel situation, and go to the football game.  I hope that you had a great time at the game, and I am glad you had the opportunity to get together with your brother.  Also, I want to thank you again for the invitation to go to the game.  Even though you label doing this as an un-NLD behavior, your kindness is definitely an NLD behavior.  As I have mentioned before, NLD individuals have hearts of gold, and kindness is one of their great strengths.

   In terms of conquering fears and dealing with novel situations, I can relate to what Vivian said.  I find that sometimes it is best to face one's fears, and challenge oneself to deal with novel and unfamiliar situations.  Growing up, I always had a fear of New York City.  Just the thought of going there, especially on my own, was overwhelming.  After receiving my master's degree from Michigan State, I was finally able to conquer this fear.  When I went on job interviews in NYC, I finally was able to see that NYC was not as overwhelming and scary as I imagined it.  I figured out how to take the train into the city, and how the PATH system worked.  Even though I got lost on several occasions, I somehow managed to find my way around.  A real challenge was when I was taking evening classes for my Series 7 stockbroker examination.  At first, just the thought of being in NYC at night scared the daylights out of me.  I found out that I just needed to be alert, walk in areas where there were people around, and avoid walking down any dark pathways.  Eight years later, I have no problem going to NYC, and actually enjoy going into the city on occasion.  Overall, I believe that that we can overcome our fears of novel situations, and that many times, as someone once said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."  I believe this saying to be true because many times I find my fears do not match reality.