My tennis coach observes my serve and says, “You can do better.  Let me show you.”  He teaches me a new way of swinging the racket to put spin on the ball and encourages me to practice it.

It is a better serve for me, but there is great resistance in thought to implementing it during competition.  I am afraid of doing it wrong, messing up my serve and looking ridiculous.  

Most of the time, I remain in my old comfort zone and resort to my old serve, which gets the ball in, but is not nearly as effective as the new serve.  

After months of struggling with what to do, I realize that I am letting fear hold me back.  If I am going to progress, I need to conquer that fear, I conclude.

In my prayers, I decide that God gives me the ability to master that serve, and that I need to honor God’s gift by proving I have it.  It doesn’t matter how many mistakes I make learning it.  Learning it is more important than what it takes to get there.

Interestingly, once I decide not to be afraid anymore, I learn the serve rapidly.  It takes me a few months to master, but I learn the new technique, and the quality of my serve improves exponentially.  

The same rule applies to life.  To progress, we need to learn new ways of thinking and new ways of living that more nearly reflect the divine.  We can’t hold onto the old and advance with the new.

Mary Baker Eddy writes, “When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 452).  The “new” is the spiritual man.  The “old” is the mortal.

Be quick to put on the new and leave the old behind.  And be wise to not let fear hold you back.  The new man of Spirit’s creating is so much better than the old man of mortal mind.