Summiting Your Fears
I'm afraid terrified of heights.
The thought of being way up high makes my hands sweat, my heart race, and my knees go weak.
However, if I am in an enclosed space like a plane, building or gondola – I tend to be all right.
On our recent trip to Whistler, BC – Glenn and I decided to take the Gondola up to the summit of Whistler to hike around and spend the day in the clouds.
Gondolas are safe – there was even a little girl on ours – nothing bad happens when little children are around.
The trip up was beautiful. We got to the top.
And as Obi-Wan Kanobi would say, “This is NOT the summit you are looking for.”
You've got to take the Peak Express Chairs to get there.
You've got to be kidding me. Feet dangling, hanging on for dear life while that rickety thing takes me up a mountain. No freaking way!
Seth Godin always says “If it scares you, you should do it.”
I looked at my finacé, and said “Let's do this.”
We hiked down to the chair lifts and hopped on.
Deep breaths. Grabbing the bar for dear life. It was ok. Until we came to a valley.
There was a strong gust of wind that caused our chair to sway. I looked at Glenn, and he clearly wasn't having a good time on this thing. At that point I wanted to scream out “Seth Godin is a idiot who is going to get me killed!”
We didn't die (obviously). We got to the top and it was BEAUTIFUL!
Embrace the Fear and Do It Anyway
If I didn't get on that scary looking ski lift, I'd have missed a spectacular view and so much beauty that I could hardly bear it. I'm not saying that 10 minute ride was easy. No, it scared the crap out of me. As Glenn and I high-fived each other for facing our fears, we got the remarkable pay-off!
What does your fear keep you from?
- Fear of speaking
- Fear of asking for what we want
- Fear of telling someone how much they mean to us
- Fear of giving constructive criticism
- Fear of sharing your passion
- Fear of expressing your dreams
These are all risky things. It makes sense that we are scared to do them. The bigger question is what do we lose out on if we don't face the fear and just say what needs to be said?
We lose the view from the top.
My challenge to you is to do one thing this week that scares the crap out of you. Let me know how it goes!
Although I wanted him dead on that ski lift, Seth Godin is right – if it scares you, do it!
Whistler ski lift image courtesy of Elizabeth Bue licensed via Creative Commons
