Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

Feb 17th Blogging Circle Overcoming fear

“Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt

Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Roosevelt? Have you ever been in a situation that you were so frightened but found the courage to overcome?


I love FDR and he is a hero when it comes to overcoming fear and making decisions that are important. He was a young strong man with 5 children that he swam with and played all kinds of sports when he was struck with polio. That was 1921 and he went on to serve as Gov of New York, and of course, 4 terms as president of the US. It would take pages to list his accomplishments in life. His fireside chats during WW2 kept Americans optimistic. He is my personal favorite President.

Probably the 1st time I was really frightened and had to summon up courage was when I was 19. I had just had my 1st baby by a Cesarean section a week before. We lived in an apartment that had concrete steps going up to where the car was parked. There was about 5 steps. I wasn’t supposed to pick up anything that weighed more than little Paul at 7 pounds.

My husband had to get back to work. He was a manager for a large retail chain called Rich’s in Atlanta. He was over all the non selling areas of the store. So I had just come home from the hospital and the baby was in a bassinet next to our bed so I could breast feed him. We were already sleep deprived but Frank couldn’t move his legs that morning to get up. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. We should have called an ambulance. I don’t think 911 was set up yet.

I helped him get to the car. I don’t remember how I did this. He obviously had some use of his legs and I had a lot of adrenaline pumping. I did go back to pick the baby up (didn’t forget him) and drove to the hospital, which was about 15 minutes away. I drove into the bay of the ER where the ambulances were and personnel put him on a stretcher. After a Xray where dye was injected into the epidural column showed a vertebra had shattered and was embedded in the several areas of the spinal cord, we knew it meant immediate surgery. This was many years before I went to college for my nursing degree so I just trusted the medical experts.

All was well in the end and he could walk again although he was in the hospital for 4 weeks. He came home in an ambulance. We tried to go to my parents to stay because that was my home base to sleep and live while he was in the hospital. My Mom was a great help in taking care of Paul as I ran back and forth to the hospital with leaking breasts. When you are young, it is amazing what you can do.

Of course since then, both in my job and public I have treated accident victims, done CPR, delivered babies, covered wounds with intestines coming out. That kind of thing is easier in the hospital where you have equipment than on the floor of a gift shop or in a park but thank goodness for EMTs and paramedics. The point of all of it is catching the emergency in time and figuring out the problem. Never had to deal with a person with a gun meaning to harm someone, thank goodness.

You can do anything if you don’t let fear stop you but it helps immensely if you have knowledge. Everyone should take the advanced cardiac first aid course and get certified. You never know what will happen to a loved one and you can be the difference. I did the Heimlich maneuver on myself one time and dislodged a piece of a granola bar. I was alone and about to pass out. Glad that I could think of what to do!