The Power of Doing Something Scary That (Probably) Won't Kill You

I always love it when my workouts act as life lessons that I can carry over into my other 22-23 hours a day. Today did not disappoint! I'm in one of my most favorite places in the world, Joshua Tree, CA and today I went for one of my not so favorite but really is one of my favorite hikes to Ryan Mountain. Translation~ It is a great workout but scares the crap out of me! I'm really fine with steep treks but not when a good portion is on a narrow, rocky path on the outside of the hill. You may have guessed that I'm scared of heights :-) The way UP is generally OK but coming down and seeing just how far I could tumble if I lose my footing freaks me WAY out. Did I mention I'm accident prone? I've actually resorted to butt scooting my way down particularly steep hills. I guess my rationale is that I can not fall on my ass if I'm already on it.

So why do I voluntarily do stuff like this when I know it will make me feel super uncomfortable? Because I also know that it will make me a little bit better each time I stare fear down and do it anyway. It will make the next, even scarier, mountain possible to climb. If I push myself to be better I will be better! So how did I make it down the mountain in one piece and feeling pretty freakin fantastic about myself? One step at a time and by focusing on the climb down, moment by moment. This is where the life lesson part comes in. If you have a BIG, scary thing you need or want to get done (ie a goal you keep putting off because you think it's not possible) take it one bit at a time and  don't let yourself get overwhelmed by the big picture. Chip away at it, small task by small task, and the next thing you know it's DONE. (and you feel pretty amazing!)

I swear it was even scarier in person!

As I was thinking about all of this it dawned that this feeling of being overwhelmed, being intimidated by BIG goals has held me back in areas I would much rather be excelling in. Yes, we need to be realistic but if we truly want to live out loud we need to push ourselves to GO BIG. This is something I'm keeping in mind as I set my goals for 2012, who's with me? Are you up for making it the year of making the impossible, possible? If we commit to doing something just a little scary on a daily basis it can happen.

xoxo

Coni