I once participated in a ropes course where I was asked to climb tall poles, walk across a wire strung between two tall trees (another narrow bridge…), and repel down a cliff. I had always thought myself afraid of heights, so performing these feats seemed unimaginable to me. However, I did almost all of them.
Slowly, slowly I made my way to the top of the pole, the first exercise, and then navigated my way onto a little metal platform where I then stood like the ornament on a totem pole. I remember the fear I felt as I climbed and the terror I felt when trying to get my feet onto that platform and then raise my body to a standing position. Once I was standing there so high above the ground, however, I discovered that I really was not that afraid of heights. In fact, being up there was an exhilarating experience. Not only had I overcome my fear of heights, I felt great that I had accomplished the climb – which is not to say that it wasn’t still scary standing there atop that pole but the fear felt less like fear and more like awe. I was in awe of myself and in awe of the experience itself.
I could have given in to my fear and never even tried to climb the pole. I could have stood there and trembled. I could have been too scared to come down. Instead I choose to climb despite my fear and to look upon the experience with awe and a sense of tremendous accomplishment.
Ropes courses are all about learning how you react to life on a daily basis. While we don’t usually have to climb a tall pole in our normal life, we are often faced with obstacles or situations that bring up our feelings of fear. In these situations, we have the same choices – climb or don’t climb, feel fear or feel awe, feel defeated or feel determined to accomplish the goal.
Life is all about choices. Every time we face a situation, any situation, we have a choice of how to respond. That response can be a negative feeling one or a positive feeling one, and we have the ability to choose which one we want.
What choices are you making each day and in each situation?
For more information on how to move through fear, click here.
