Make daily efforts to overcome my many irrational fears about things in life. When fear creeps in, confront it. When fear seems far away, don't refuse to aknowledge it. Find a way to master it.

always makes me a basket case. Today, on what I hope is the last time I drive in rotten conditions this year, I performed like a champ.

I reminded myself that I was okay, that I was in God’s hands, insomuch as I could control my driving and be cautious and go slow, and the rest wasn’t up to me anyway. I breathed slow and reminded myself to relax when I felt panic building up.

Amazingly, I kept a reasonable level of calm on the entire long drive. No close calls, and we arrived home safely without apple-sized knotted muscles from the tension. At various points in the drive, I was even fully relaxed and cozy.

Those snow covered roads, icy windshields, threateningly stupid drivers on the same road with me. A huge obstacle. Beaten right down, thank you very much!

I touched the snake and it wasn’t such a big deal. I even held it, briefly. The biggie for me is I don’t like the head. What I’m actually afraid of isn’t the snake itself. It’s that the snake will bite me. Therefore, when holding it, I mostly hold the middle and asked Tony to take it when it turned toward me or faced me. I think today I’ll try to hold it again.

I could write all night on this goal, but let me begin with a sub goal.

I vow to do one thing that scares me this week.

I think I will start with touching Tony’s snake and maybe hold it if I can work up to that. For goodness sake, my six year old holds that thing. It’s all in my mind.

Yes, that is where I will begin.