Choosing Fear

When was the last time you did something that scared you?

There’s been a few occasions for me over the last few weeks and this climbing venture was one of them. 

The first time I was on a rock wall, I was young enough that it was acceptable to walk around shirtless. So, about 3.5 years old. But when skiing took off, climbing was majorly placed on the back-burner. 

And I’m grateful. Because now, climbing gives me the opportunity to do something that scares me and there are a lot of ways to scare yourself climbing.

But why? Why seek out something that scares you?

Experiencing scary situations offers an opportunity to observe what your mind does in the face of fear, to watch as fear distorts reality, to feel its physical effects on your body. You’re then given the chance to accept fear for what it is & move beyond it. To realize that it’s not quite as powerful as it tricks us to believe.

Fear entangles our lives in seemingly endless ways: fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of lack, fear of insignificance, fear of being alone, fear of rejection, fear of unworthiness, fear of being unloved.

Without engaging our conscious mind, we tend to retreat in the face of fear. The act of retreating keeps us stuck where we are. It leads us away from our truest desires.

Instead of having the difficult conversation with our spouse, we remain silent and absorb our frustrations. Instead of holding boundaries with a friend we appease them. Instead of wearing the bikini we love, we hide beneath the one-piece. Instead of asking our boss for a raise, we keep our head down working our life away for someone else’s dream.

Fear is not going away. We must learn to live amongst it. We must practice facing, evaluating, understanding, appreciating, and accepting our fear. We must seek it out.

Fear is here as our teacher. The more we choose it, the less power it has over us.

So, let me know below, when was the last time you did something that scared you?