Hopefully, everyone has had a joyous Christmas.

We felt blessed we could be with our families and had a wonderful Christmas.

My focus has turned to the new year.

For a while, I was dreading the thought of the new year, in fear of what it may bring.

This past year has been hard on me with the loss of four family members and many close friends.

It seemed every week I was going to the funeral home. This past week I traveled to Parkersburg, West Virginia, to a cousin’s funeral.

At my age, a loved one could go at any time.

It was this reason I was dreading the new year.

However, this week I picked up a book I had begun over a year ago and did not finish, so I decided to reread it. It is “Living Without Fear” by Lloyd Ogilvie.

It seemed I needed to read it especially now.

He made me realize we all have our fears. Some people’s fears are deeper than others.

In his book, he breaks fear down into 12 different parts. The first part is particularly noteworthy.

He labeled it “Fearless and Free.” He said we all should live our life in this manner.

I want to use one paragraph from his book that says, “Not all our fears make the daily newspaper. Our world has a fair share of fear-producing people and distressing situations. What is it for you? Who or What is in the immediate world around you causes you to fear?”

He stated our inner world of thought, emotion, memory and imagination is where fear festers and grows.

This book made me realize we all have fear.

None of us are exempt from fear. For some, fear causes problems in their life which become stifling and holds them back from living life.

He mentioned later in his book how we all should have a passion for living.

Usually, what we fear is not as bad as we had imagined it was going to be, I have come to notice in life.

I have had times of being gripped in fear in my life.

I think being raised by my parents who taught us how to make decisions and get through life has helped me on occasion to keep from getting stifled.

I always remembered my daddy living life without fear like our Willoughby motto on the coat of arms.

That is the way I saw him, but I never realized he was bound to have had lots of fear in his life.

He never showed it to us.

I only remember him sitting silently with his head on his hands. And I came to learn it was when he worried over bills.

Sometimes what we fear affects others even if they do not tell us they have a fear.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said “Worry is a word that I don’t allow myself to use.”

Wouldn’t it be great if we all did the same thing?

Eisenhower had many times as a five-star general and president of our country, I am sure, to have been fearful but he must have known fear could only stifle him.

Rose Kennedy said “Birds sing after a storm, why shouldn’t we?”

Mrs. Kennedy had many hurts in her life but still looked on the good side of life.

Both seemed to show us what courage means and facing life without fear.

Instead of singing, we often look at ourselves in pity and wallow in it for a while.

Hopefully, we will face the new year with this attitude.

I want to end with two quotes.

The first one is by Lena Sadler. “Faith is the only known cure for fear.”

The other one is from Joan of Arc. “Go Forward Bravely. Fear Nothing. Trust in God: all will be well.”

I promise I will think on these quotes as I tell 2018 goodbye and look forward to 2019 without fear.

Sue Staton is a Clark County native who grew up in the Kiddville area. She is a wife, mother and grandmother who is active in her church, First United Methodist Church, and her homemakers group, Towne and Country Homemakers.