Doing Scary Things
Back in December I did one of the biggest things I’ve done in my entire life. After experiencing panic attacks while driving for years, I decided to overcome my fear and make a long distance journey all alone. I packed up my dog and car to drive 600 miles from Texas to Florida for a holiday getaway. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life and you can read about it in this post - What Happens When You Let Go. Leading up to this event I used what they call exposure therapy to make smaller trips and then increase the frequency so I could become comfortable again with driving. It worked. After a event in October, then weekend getaway with my daughter in November where we visited The Butterfly Garden, I was ready to make the journey in December. I share this to help remind you that you can do hard things, too.
One of the challenges along the way was driving over the Mississippi River. This is the largest river in the United States on the largest Highway. Although I’ve crossed this bridge numerous times throughout my childhood as a passenger - driving across it alone was a different story. I braced myself early Sunday morning when the traffic would be light to drive over it. I will tell you that my palms ended up getting sweaty and my heart started to race as I took deep breaths driving over. The thing about courage I’ve learned is that while you are doing something that takes courage - you usually feel scared shitless. And that’s exactly what this was like for me.
A few years ago I decided to stop letting fear get in the way of living. It takes a moment to moment approach but when you are doing something that requires bravery you don’t feel brave. You feel nervous, your heart races, and your chest may tighten. But as you move through each moment it begins to be bearable. Maybe your fear is public speaking. Maybe your fear is putting yourself out there on social media. Maybe your fear is standing up to someone in your family or at your job. Whatever the fear is, you can get through it. It won’t be easy, but the easy things don’t bring fulfillment. It’s through the hard lessons our character develops and our faith is strengthened.
Once I made it to the other side, I was able to park my car and take a much needed walk along the riverbank. I grabbed a bite to each at The Vintage and admired the beautiful architecture of historic downtown. I made sure to get a obligatory picture of the mural painting on the steps that reads Baton Rouge. I slowed down and soaked up this moment. This moment would be the fuel to face other things in the future. This would be a moment that changed my life and I could never be the same. I saw the light bounce of the amber leaves in the park and thought about gratitude. I was thankful for the mentors in my life that pushed me to get to this point. I was thankful for my family and friends who offered support during the toughest times of my life. But most of all I was thankful for God and how my faith was deepened by him leading me through this experience.
You can do hard things. You can change your life and circumstances. You just have to make up your mind and move one step closer everyday. You can do things that are beyond what you thought you were capable of. I am reminded about how we’ve done astronomically large things as humans - we’ve had people fly around the world in a single plane. We’ve put people into space and on the moon. We’ve done so much as humans to change the trajectory of humanity - so why can’t you change your life? You absolutely can.
