Fear Cheating You Out of Knowledge and Joy
I have a question for you. Have you ever had an opportunity to learn something that you needed and not taken advantage? I know it sounds like a silly question but I bet you have done it or come close to doing it. Usually we find really good reasons to not take advantage of the opportunity. But often those reasons are excuses to distract from the real reason, fear.
I recently had this opportunity. My previous post mentioned how I was lacking in my self-care routine that I attended a childbirth class last Saturday. I went but I came so close to not going. I had a nice list of reasons not to go.
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I’d have to get up really early on a Saturday (I’m enjoying sleeping in while I can).
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It cost money and I’m saving up for maternity leave.
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My friends did not take a class.
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Why take a class on something my body knows how to do?
In reality my real hesitation to register for the childbirth class is not listed above. The reason is I was afraid of being singled out and made to feel out of place for being a Single Mother By Choice (SMC). I had read online about other SMCs having bad experiences at these types of classes. They had written about the classes being so focused on the husband wife relationship.
So, I almost did not take the class. Ultimately I decided to move forward fear and all and register for the class. Why? I have never given birth before and neither has my support person. I know my body will know what to do. However the mind body connection is powerful and if I was freaked out or terrified during the experience that could interfere with my body doing what it was supposed to do. The more I learn about childbirth the better my experience is likely to be.
I won’t go so far as to say taking the class will give me a Joyful childbirth. However, I am certainly sure my experience will be much better having picked up some valuable knowledge and skills at the childbirth class. Check out the video below if you want to find out exactly how the class went and what my experience was like as a SMC. I will say the class ended up being a positive experience and I am very happy I did not let my fear cheat me out of knowledge.
