My dad put off his colonoscopy for years because he was afraid. He had heard horror stories of people’s colon being punctured during their screenings and the aftermath. He didn’t want that experience for himself; therefore, he shied away from being screened, and unfortunately, when my dad did get screened, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

As I thought about my dad’s diagnosis, I reflected on how crippling fear is. It robs people of their ability to do what is best for their health and well-being. It causes them to think about all the things that could go wrong instead of helping them to see that a simple screening, for example, could actually help prevent things from going wrong. Fear causes people to fall victim to the very thing they have been trying to escape. Fear is blinding. It steals people’s joy, peace, health, well-being, you name it. Fear is indeed a sly old fox.

A lesson we all need to learn is this. Do not allow fear to control your life, and even if you have a legitimate reason to fear, still do what is best for your health and well-being. For if your health suffers because of your fear, you will come to realize that what you have to endure is far greater than the fear you had. In other words, prevention is better than cure.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. To learn more about colorectal cancer, please visit the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.