Pushing Past Fear
The last few years I have worked on taking more time for myself. I had many years where I could do whatever I wanted, but after marrying later in life and having young kids and a career, I started taking less time for me. Let me tell you, this isn’t something I recommend. It’s also hard to juggle everything in life when you have competing values and priorities. That being said, I have made a concerted effort the last few years to have some time for myself in nature whether that’s skiing, biking or hiking. Now that Spring has arrived in Utah, I am back on my mountain bike. I have a more cautious personality by nature so when I’m on my bike I constantly hover between fear and exhilaration.
The last two weeks I rode solo as my bike partner wasn’t available. For several reasons, I don’t do many things solo in nature (sadly). Last week I chose a well traveled trail and let my mind float. That’s probably one of my favourite things when I’m in nature. A wild turkey gobbled at me, a hawk soared above looking for food and all the newly budding wildflowers said hello. As I rode down the single track I considered how many things I hold myself back from because of fear. Fear I will get hurt, fear I will fail, fear things won’t work out. And yet, I have failed, been hurt, and not everything has worked out. Guess what? I am still standing. I thought about how when I’m riding down a scary section and if I brake too hard, I actually lose control. If I ease off the brakes and trust myself, I usually make it without incident. It parallels so much in life. Sometimes we have to let go to feel the exhilaration. Letting go provides us the opportunity to feel the wind blowing through our hair, our heart beat quickening just a little and the confidence we feel when we do something brave. Trust yourself that when you fall, you can get back up. You can heal. There are times when it’s okay to be cautious. And there are times when you need to just let go and face that fear!
So, how do you push through fear? First take some deep breaths. Identify the fear and what it is you’re afraid of happening. Challenge it with a reminder that you can get through it. Play it all the way out and ask yourself “what will I miss or lose out on if I don’t do this?” Lastly, trust yourself.