Fear is a great motivator. It can make one run and hide, or it can make one dig down deep to find the courage and strength that make confronting fear necessary.

I haven’t experienced much genuine fear in my life, outside of not easily falling asleep after watching a scary movie. I have, however, experienced a lifetime of anxiety, which is quite similar to fear with the exception that my brain has unconsciously overanalyzed every situation I’ve approached with a “worst case scenario” mindset rather than firsthand knowledge. I like to be prepared.

At this time in my life, as a mother to a young son, and at this time in our country, I’ve found fear and anxiety showing their ugly face a little more often. I’ve always taken my job as a parent very seriously and I’ve been forced to advocate for my son on more than one occasion. I truly believe that if I am not allowed to continue advocating for the advancement of my son’s style of learning and growth, that he will just become like everyone else and that has never been my plan.

I set out to handcraft a gentleman, an intellect, and an empath. I know that some of these things are out of my control and he will become who he was born to be, but it’s my responsibility as his mother to provide him with the possibilities to advance his skills and strengths. As a result, the standard public school system has proven to be a difficult atmosphere for an advanced person like him to thrive. He has gifted tendencies that can’t be ignored until 4th grade, as his school would like to proceed.

If the goal in our world is to create a better life and positive change, it needs to start with our children, if we are not in a position to create the change ourselves. I don’t see myself as someone who can implement the change we need in this world, however, I do believe my son possesses those skills and I will not allow the fear looming just ahead to keep me from making the choices that are right for him, regardless of how difficult the implementation might be.

We have seen what happens when an entitled mindset is allowed to set a precedent for behavior and influence. We have also seen the significant advances in technology in just the past 30 years, and I know for a fact that the people responsible for making these historical positive changes to our modern society worked their tails off to get there. They heard “no” over and over. They never gave up. They tried something new when a plan wasn’t working. They were probably the problem kids in their kindergarten classroom too. I think of that when I let the fear take over. I remind myself that my son was never meant to be simple. He is a part of me after all.