With the new show, Douglas Family Gold, hitting our screens soon, Oxygen orchestrated a conference call with Gabby Douglas, her mother and press this past Friday. And guess who had the pleasure of joining in and asking a few questions?

Yeah, this girl!

I never followed Gabby’s journey but of course, I knew who the young woman was. If you don’t know, she’s an Olympic gymnast. And not just any Olympic gymnast, she’s the very first African American to win the individual all-around event. So yeah, she’s a beast. I jumped at the opportunity to briefly interview her on the Douglas Family Gold conference call.

While listening to others ask her questions, I noticed three things. 1. Gabby is extremely sweet! 2. She laughed as if she hadn’t a care in the world. 3. She’s a believer.

I immediately got the idea to share her response to my question with you all. She’s such a strong person with an ever stronger backbone (literally) and it really just inspired me to see her with all of her success and still give credit and honor to the One who gifted her. Unashamedly, at that.

My question actually derived from her boldness. Here’s what I asked:

“You’re always so beautifully poised and confident on and off the balance beam. Do you have any fears and if so how do you combat them?

Gabby Douglas: Do I have any fears? You know what? Sometimes I do in the gym but you know what? That’s kind of the process and it all – and it just determines whether you look fear in the eye and just like, “You know, I’m going to conquer this,” or, you know, you shy away.

And for me it’s just a lot of things. I love to meditate on, you know, really strong scriptures and something really positive and good messaging and music and mentally seeing myself, you know, doing a skill.

And you really have to just, you know, really block fear out. Like you just have to like say, “No. No.” You just have to say no to it and that’s what I do.

Good stuff. But you know I couldn’t let her go without asking a follow up question!

When I asked Gabby what her favorite scripture was, she was flustered because she had so many! To make it easier, I asked her:

“What’s your favorite verse to combat fear?”

She took a bit of time, trying to remember the verse where the Bible mentions that God doesn’t give His children a spirit of fear. I had to Google it myself! I couldn’t remember where to find it. After awhile, she figured out it was in the book of 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified Bible (AMP)

7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

 

You may not be catapulting off of balance beams as Gabby does, but you can’t say that life doesn’t catapult you to and fro, leaving you sometimes cowering. The setbacks, the hurdles, the falls – they happen to all of us. But it can be overcome. So, how do you fight fear?

1. Look fear in the eye and tell it you’re going to conquer it.
2. Listen to uplifting music
3. Meditate on scriptures
4. Visualize your victory

Take Gabby’s word for it. She’s the one with the gold.

Don’t forget to tune into Douglas Family Gold tonight at 10/9c. I’ll be watching, too!