“Courage isn’t the absence of fear. Courage is being afraid and still doing what you know needs to be done anyway.”
-John Wayne
Everyone is afraid of something. And most of us have bunches of little fears, worries and apprehensions that we walk around with every day. Some are bigger than others. And some are more rational than others. One of the things that separates successful people from the wallowing masses trapped in mediocrity out there is their ability to overcome their fears and move beyond them. For so many of us, fear paralyzes our potential. It keeps us from moving forward and achieving the success that is calling to us.
I know fear has held me back for years. Ultimately our fears come down to a control issue. We so much want to be sure that everything will work out in our favor that when we face uncertainty of outcomes, we fear moving forward. If we were certain that we could control the outcome, we would not be afraid.
This is true across the board. It doesn’t matter what your particular fear is: HEIGHTS, spiders, SNAKES, public speaking, talking to people you don’t know, flying, going to the dentist, or even CLOWNS. Whatever your fear, somewhere at its root is an uncertainty of outcome that is in conflict with your desire to be in control of the situation.
Growing up, I've always known I had a fear of snakes. I've never had a traumatizing experience with snakes nor had I ever encountered one, yet I had this overwhelming fear of them. I never really knew where this fear rooted from and up until yesterday, I never thought I'd ever see myself getting up close and personal with one. I find it empowering when you tackle your fears which is why I'm so passionate about fulfilling my life list. There's no better feeling than being able to accomplish the things you've always wanted to do, no matter what it is.
I'm not going to lie and say that this task was easy for me. Because it wasn't. You have no idea how terrified I was. I was fine up until I got inside the snake room. It was difficult to even be in the same room as the snake. And the snake, unfortunately for me, was massive. Luckily though, it was too big to be taken out of the glass completely. So we were only allowed to interact with one fourth of the snake's length. This didn't give me any relief because to me, a snake is snake, no matter how big. I'll still be afraid.
#29 Overcome Fear of Snakes
When the snake handler finally opened the glass aquarium containing the python, I couldn't help but run out of the room numerous times. I couldn't find myself getting near such a disgusting creature. But I had a goal in mind, and this was something that had to be done. It helped a little that my friend Eula was interacting with the snake. She was a stranger to him and if he didn't attack her, then maybe I'll be fine. Like I sad previously, we fear things because of the uncertainty of the outcome.
So here I was, face to face with my biggest fear. And honestly, I don't know how I was able to even get close to that thing. My friend Eula was holding the snake while I was weaning myself. I knew that I had to get accustomed to it first before I could actually hold it on my own. So here I was, poking at it and trying to get a feel of it's scaly skin.
Meanwhile, my friend Monica is laughing at my expressions while documenting the whole thing on camera. Everyone in the room was laughing at me, even the photographer and the snake handler. I have to admit, I was a bit dramatic and I did show a lot of fear. But you have to understand, aside from heights, this is my biggest fear. So all the screaming and running came with the territory.
Anyway, I didn't want to waste time. I just wanted to get it done and over with. So I grabbed my fear by the balls and went for it. I grabbed that snake, took a few photos, and I was done! I held it, all on my own. That was a big deal to me. The expression on my face captured by the photographer could not have been any more accurate as to what I felt at that exact moment. Here's the shot:
On March 10, 2010, I overcame my fear of snakes. Now, I may not have overcome it completely (I don't plan on ever doing it again), but I can say this, I won't be as afraid if I ever encounter a snake in the future. I think I'll always have this fear. But you know what, I'm not ashamed of it. Because fearless isn't being one hundred percent unafraid. It's being terrified but you jump anyway. And I proved that to myself. And ultimately, that's what matters.
Here's a little video I put together about the experience. Enjoy.
#29 overcome fear of snakes from Rujay on Vimeo.
0 comments:
Post a Comment