Fear is the greatest obstacle we face. It can stop us cold. Perhaps the greatest fear of all is loss of something dear to our hearts: Loss of a friend or family member; loss of our own self-respect or the respect of others; loss of a job, job offer or prized possession. Whatever fear we face, he have the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone, look it squarely in the eye, and back away from the fear in order to move forward.

My greatest fears have always been rejection and ridicule. Yet, I chose a high visible career path as a talk radio host. As any broadcast personality will tell you, rejection from listeners or viewers and ridicule about what we broadcast is common in the industry. However, I determined that my mission of delivering a message about positive living was greater than my fears.

With the socio-economic climate the world faces today, it is critical to check our fears, attitudes and feelings each day. For some, emotional paralysis will be unavoidable, but if we do our best to remain open and optimistic, these attitudes will help us discover new avenues of happiness and new doors to enter into in our journey through life: "Out with the negative, in with the positive!"

If you believe there are possibilities ahead, you are more positive and open. You expect good things to happen and trigger a self-fulfilling prophesy. Research has shown that we get what we expect to get. In other words, people who are able to take change in stride and "roll with the punches" tend to rewrite endings to match their positive expectations. They view the change as an opportunity, not as a threat..

One of the rewards of working through our fears is that they can become our greatest lessons in life. Years ago, I was at a business holiday party, and met a man who set up roundtable meetings for CEO's of Fortune 500 companies. I asked him if those top executives had anything in common. He said, "Yes, they're not afraid to make mistakes. They use their mistakes to learn, and to propel them to make the next decision."

Each step you take rewrites the ending. You may wander off the path occasionally. You may even stumble. That's the nature of "pathfinding." The steps you take are based on the choices you make, and the choices you make are based on the values, beliefs and experiences that define who you are.

Take a moment for yourself and contemplate:

• What old attitude can you replace with a new one? • Which of your strengths can compensate for a weakness? • What have you done to "rewrite the ending" of a "mistake" you made? • Remember a challenge you have overcome because of inner strength that guided you. Find a solution to help put you on a path to personal success:

•  What old attitudes, beliefs and behaviors can you discard as unhelpful to your new value system. •  Aks yourself how you can work through a fearful situation in a positive way.

Patricia Raskin, host of the Positive Living radio show, is a nationally recognized, multi-media radio talk show host. award-winning producer, speaker and author.  For the past twenty-five years, she has been hosting and producing positive media programs that have aired on Fox, PBS and NPR affiliates and WTKF, 107.3FM. Her  "Positive Living™" show is heard and streamed live on News Talk 630 WPRO, the Citadel Broadcasting affiliate in  Providence RI  on Sundays at  NOON-2PMET and on voiceamerica.com on Mondays 2-3PMET/11AM-noonPT.  www.patriciaraskin.com