What Are You Afraid Of?

What are you afraid of? I get that asked a lot and on a conscious level that is quite a question, as I have been afraid of heights and afraid of open water. How did I get over it? Quite simply I had to push myself through the fear factor. 

I was on holiday by myself and was looking to do parasailing, but everyday I would talk myself out of doing it because I was thinking along the lines of "What if the rope snaps?" "What if I can't swim?".  I know some of you may well be on that thought pattern with me. 

I got to the penultimate day of the holiday and something in my head said "just do it!" I was a bit shocked at myself and I just got out of the comfort zone and suddenly I am on a boat going out to sea about to do something that scared me. 

I won't lie, even on the boat I am thinking about what I had committed to, and that I could just not do it. To make it worse I was also in the second place I hated to be. But I knew that I would kick myself if I did not do it after paying all the money for the experience, so when it came to who was going to go first, I raised my hand and before I knew I was attached to all the equipment and in the air.

What I can tell you is that going through that fear factor and suddenly being up in the air was an amazing experience, and it was so blissful and I did not want it to end. 

Every holiday I go on now, I challenge myself to try something that would put me out of my comfort zone. Last year I was in Spain and my girlfriend and I went to do some open sea snorkeling, and I knew it was going to test me. At first I was only happy to be around the boat, I wanted the safety net of being able to get out if I did not feel comfortable. I also remember on that trip there was a lady who would not get off the boat, and I looked at her thinking firstly, I understand your thinking right now, but also at the same time thinking I cannot waste an opportunity. 

So I started to venture away from the boat and I started to take in water, which can lead to panic but the problem was I had ventured too far from the boat to be rescued so I had a choice to make, either to panic and make the situation worse, or work out how to breathe so that I could stop taking in water. I chose the latter option, and I am so glad I did because I was absolutely buzzing afterwards, because I had firstly overcome another fear, but also because to see some really beautiful sights that I would not have seen if I had just stayed on the boat. 

So the lesson is this, push through the fear and do it anyway, because excitement and exhilaration is on the other side of fear.