Face your fear

In my younger days, I was fearless. I went from a small suburban town to living in New York City and I loved every minute of it. Something happened though as I got older. I can’t say it’s because I got wiser; it seems I lost part of my self. The good news is I’m getting it back. A recent experience really brought this home for me.

About 10 years ago I worked for a start up in Boston. I have to say it was one of my favorite jobs. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt and suddenly closed its doors. This company did have a retirement plan and I contributed the maximum to it. Once the company shut down, I meant to transfer my money but didn’t get around to it.

As the years went by, I kept thinking about this. By this time, I was afraid to call and inquire about my account. I was afraid that the company had taken the money. I know that this is against the law, but fear kept me from finding out.

Well, a few days ago I got a letter from the Plan Recordkeeper saying that the plan is terminating and I need to transfer my money. Ah, talk about heaven sent! I immediately called the number listed in the letter and initiated the transfer process. Further good news, the value of my account had doubled!

I had two choices in thinking about this experience. I could have beaten myself up and felt really guilty that I had done nothing about it for ten years. I could tell myself that it was stupid to be afraid to find out what happened to my money.

Instead, I chose to view this as a great learning experience. Yes, I was afraid. But, the end result was a good one. It taught me to be less afraid. Or, at least to face my fear and do it anyway.

This new perspective will do me good as I embark on the next stage of my career.

What about you? How do you face your fears?

Photo is courtesy of James Diggans’ Flickr photostream, under Creative Commons Licensing.