“I didn’t let the fear take over.” That’s what my seven-year-old said to us on Saturday.

He had baseball tryouts and experiences a good bit of social anxiety. Over the last few years, he has let that inhibition keep him from doing things that he might otherwise enjoy. But more often, we’ve pushed him into uncomfortable situations knowing he’d enjoy himself once he overcame those initial barriers.

On Saturday morning, we braced ourselves for a tough morning, but he never said anything about being nervous or anxious. He had his tryouts, and everything went well. On the way to the car, we told him how proud we were of how he’d handled everything. That’s when he told us he had been nervous, but “I didn’t let the fear take over.”

We are all going to experience times of discomfort, anxiety, and fear. For me they seem to come in seasons. We need to recognize them, rather than deny them. But we also need to keep them from taking over.

Use the evidence of your past successes and even your failures to keep yourself in check and prevent your imagination from running away with negative potential outcomes.