Preloading

In a Scary Situation? The One Thing You Should Do

Season 5 Episode 522
Aired on 11/09/2014 | CC tv-pg
A lifelong spiritual seeker, the Rev. Barbara Taylor Brown is a former Episcopal priest and currently a religion professor at Piedmont College. She looks for the sacred in the most unexpected places, and her book Learning to Walk in the Dark challenges believers and nonbelievers to probe the shadows of their lives and embrace darkness in all its forms.

According to Barbara, darkness is defined as "a place of unknowing." In those places, we can find our true selves in situations we choose, like traveling to another country or becoming a parent, as well as those that are thrust upon us, such as medical conditions or the death of a loved one.

When faced with an unfamiliar situation, Barbara says, it's natural to want to run. Instead, she says to take three breaths. "Three breaths to be in this place of unknowing and feel your way around and see if there isn't somewhere in here," she says. "My soul would be the size of a pea if I never did anything. I try to do one thing that scares me every day."

Watch as Barbara explains what to do after taking three deep breaths so you can find the light in the dark you're facing.

More from this episode