Welcome back to my breakdown of my Healthy Living Alphabet
When I was a kid, I was fearless. There was nothing I wouldn’t try at least once and I loved the rush of adrenaline I’d get when doing something scary. I gave my parents more grey hairs thank I can count and certainly caused them more than a few sleepless nights over the years.
Somewhere along the way, I lost my adventurous spirit. I lost my confidence and from that, wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t going to guarantee some kind of success for me. I feared rejection, I feared embarrassment. I was bullied a bit and made fun of a lot for just generally not fitting in so as much as I might have wanted to try something or take a risk, I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I was crippled with fear. All I wanted was to blend in, be invisible and ghost my way through life.
Boy did I miss out on a lot of living by doing that.
Maybe you’re in a place where you’re doing the same thing. You might be embarrassed by your weight but too scared to go to a gym because you don’t want people staring at you. Or maybe you’ve always wanted to run but are too afraid of not being able to keep up with the pack.
As someone who has given into the fear I can tell you two very important and very true things:
1. If you don’t try, you’ll really never know. I write about my running and swimming, both are things I only started doing as an adult. I am a slow runner. I’ve gradually gotten faster but I don’t even compete for time because that’s just not why I run. When I take my swimming lessons, I’m quite literally in the pool learning technique and trying not to drown doing laps while 5 and 6 year olds are swimming endless lengths on either side of me. Yes, it’s embarrassing but I’ve stopped caring because the reality is, I’m doing it. My way. Even on the days I want to give up, I know that I will never look back on this time and regret trying.
2. Fear manifests itself in many ways, including resentment and bullying on the part of others toward you. Anyone that laughs, snickers, mocks or just plain thumbs their noses up at you has their own issues and fears to deal with. Don’t ever let those type of people prevent you from achieving what you want. The only greater tragedy than not doing something you want to is not doing it because someone else hated on you for dreaming.
So what say you? Ready to hit new heights? I’ll meet you at the summit.
