Be Afraid, and Do It Anyways
Hello again beautiful people!
I know it’s been some time since my last post, well it’s been 8 months to be exact. Which is slightly embarrassing for a self-proclaimed “blogger”.
First I’ll fill you in on what’s been taking so damn long to get new content to you.
- I’ve been procrastinating
- I’ve had a really good reason to be procrastinating
- I’ve been using this reason to avoid taking any action whatsoever on writing new content *hides eyes*
I bet you’re wondering (I know I wonder this sometimes…).
“What reason could POSSIBLY be sooo important that she can’t write for her own website!?”
And if you weren’t wondering, I bet now you are.
Well, I’ve decided to pick up my life and move abroad for a couple years.
YEP! Own Your Strength is going international!
I’ve moved to the land of the Queen, the Beatles, and Harry Potter (that’s what the UK is most known for right? … I feel like I may have some more research to do).
So, while I’ve been getting my life together for this move I’ve successfully managed to avoid writing for all of you.
This is hard to admit.
I could have just written any old blog post about health or fitness and ignored the GIANT gap of time between posts, but that’s not fair.
The people need to know!
Well, now you know and I feel better having told you.
This ginormous life change actually brings me to the topic at hand in this post.
I dedicate this post to fear.
Some say I’m brave for picking up my cushy Canadian life and moving to a place I’ve never even been.
At first when I heard those around me say
“oh wow that’s so brave of you!”
I thought to myself
“wait… am I supposed to be afraid? Is there something I’m missing?”
And now looking back, yes, there was a lot I was missing.
It wasn’t until I got to London that I realized why people were saying I was brave.
Turns out this sh*t is scary when you’re solo! Or at least it can be…
Now, the point of this post isn’t to tell you about my experience and leave you with nothing but a fun story to be jealous of. It’s to pass along some valuable insight that’s been gained along the way so that hopefully, you’re prepared for when you feel that familiar twinge of fear and don’t want to be limited by it.
So here we go!
Fear.
Fear is the normal human response to situations or things that are threatening to us.
It triggers our fight-or-flight response and sends us into survival mode.
The fear I’m touching on today, however, is the fear that keeps us stuck when it comes to having what we want in life.
For example, it’s not too often that changing careers will kill us, but for most of us, the fear of change and the uncertainty it brings feels like jumping out of an airplane and falling to our death.
Well, anyone who’s jumped out of an airplane (it’s fun, you should try it if you haven’t!) knows that the scary part is the buildup.
The ascending of the plane, the waiting… the waiting… thinking about the fall… sitting on the edge with the plane door open and looking down at the earth below you knowing if one thing goes wrong you’re dead… yah, that’s the scary part.
The second you’re falling all of that stops (at least it did for me… so I’m sorry if you didn’t have that experience skydiving, but this is the example I’m going with).
Fear turns into excitement. The same rush of adrenaline, but in a different context.
What I’ve learned through the experience of moving away from everything familiar, is that fear is all about context.
Yes things are scary when we don’t know how they’re going to turn out. It does take bravery and courage to be afraid of something and do it anyways. But once you’re on the other side, once you’re safely on the ground, what was once scary is now all of a sudden exciting.
By being afraid of the unknown, and chasing it anyways, we exercise courage. And just like exercising a muscle, if we don’t use it, we lose it!
The more we step outside of our comfort zone, the more opportunity we have to grow and learn and adapt. So why not get uncomfortable?
I’ll leave you with something I saw on a Lululemon bag once, but I’m pretty sure Elenor Roosevelt said it first…
Do something every day that scares you
Now get out there and live it up! Feel free to write about it and send your comments our way.
Much Love
Rach
