Harness Your Fears

Ok, so we did a thing. An exhilarating thing. An adventuresome thing.

And I'm' here to tell you that I was a little bit apprehensive.

Ok, I mean afraid. Like pretty scared, really.

But I needed some novelty and was craving something new.

So we buckled up and bought three tours {here}.

As a bonus, we had a hometown boy as our tour guide,

and he did an excellent job of helping us harness our fears,

just like it says on his shirt. So I bought one of those, too.

The views were seriously spectacular,

albeit too short sometimes;

the runs ran from 8 seconds short ...

to about 36 seconds long.

And after we'd done all ten lines, I wanted to keep going.

Turns out, conquering a fear can do that to a person,

so today I'm wondering what else my fears

might be holding me back from doing, or

what heights they might be keeping me from reaching.

It's usually not something tangible, like I'm afraid of heights;

instead, it's an obstacle that's way more debilitating

as it relates to life, to connections, to relationships.

I'm often afraid to say the wrong thing, so I stay quiet.

I am terrified of getting hurt, so I don't reach out.

I fear being rejected, so I decide not to even try to connect.

How do I stay true to who I am and still take a risk?

How do I harness those anxiety-producing fears

and not feel like I'm about to be pushed off

a platform, held on only by a clip or two?

First, I have to stop those maladaptive thoughts

that tell me I can't, that it's too scary and

replace them with growth-mindset thoughts.

As I replay the mantra I am wired to do hard things,

I do some breathwork to calm my nerves and

give me confidence and strength.

I weigh the pros and cons, so like with zip lining,

I look at what I would be missing out on and then

I get to decide if it's worth letting my fear win.

In relationships, it might be reminding myself

that I have a lot to offer, and that if I don't reach out,

I'm risking missing out on what might be an

incredible connection and compassionate friend.

We had such an amazing time in that mountainous region zipping over the tree tops and feeling the summer breeze; I'm so grateful that I was able to silence the voices that told me I can't, that I'm too old, too scared, too (fill in the blank) to hike up and zip line down.

All of this reflection reminds me of the book

Some Things Are Scary.

This nugget takes a look at some things