Turning Fear into Fun

"What are you afraid of?"

Yesterday I took my four kids cliff jumping at a nearby waterfall. As we made our way down the trail, I was muttering to my daughter about what kind of rednecks we've become that we now play in "swimmin' holes." That is, until we actually descended to the river. The beauty was breathtaking. I was suddenly all smiles, and the little guys were all squeals of delight.

The three younger ones immediately followed their sixteen year old brother across the top of the waterfall and up a steep embankment on the other side. When he pointed to the most conservative jump, about twenty feet up, they each with total trust, stepped right up and leapt fearlessly into the water. They looked like little dolls. Gasps of surprise came up from all the local teenagers that were standing around me. The next few hours were filled with higher and higher, jumps, and dives and flips, with and without a rope swing.

Not every jump was painless, but each held its own triumph.

Later, when we were all home, sitting around, I commented to the twins on how gutsy they were out there. Little Matthew responded with surprising words of wisdom,

"Uh, excuse me Mom, but I was terrified."

"You're kidding. You sure didn't look like it!"

"Right. That's because I quickly found out that sheer terror can turn into sheer delight when you
just go for it!"

"Just Go For It."

How many times do we hold back in life because we are so afraid of all the things that can go wrong? (Yes, Mom, I'm aware of all those things.)

I talk to people every day who fail to live their dreams because they refuse to face the fear and just "go for it." They miss the sheer delight that awaits them on the other side of the leap.

On the other hand, I also talk to people every day who are taking off the limits of what is possible. They are aware that every reward comes wrapped up in risk. Their love for life overcomes their fear of failure.

Today I encourage you to re-consider your latent dreams. If you can find a way to answer yes to the following questions than you will be empowered to jump, to escape the mundane and find the sheer joy. The questions are:

1. Can I do it?
2. Will it be worth it?

Can you do it? Of course you can. The fact that you want to means that you have the ability on some level! Find someone who is doing what you want to do, and model them.

Will it be worth it? Only you can answer that. You might want to ask yourself, if you keep doing what you are currently doing, in just one more year - how will you feel? If the answer is something along the lines of "Sick!" then you know it's worth it to make a change. Leap!

A word of caution: The successful leap comes with an all out, full hearted effort. The one who jumps half-way finds greatest potential for injury. So create some momentum for yourself.

Can you really turn fear into fun? Absolutely!