Fear

What does fear mean to me? It's a temporary road block, standing between freedom and a fixed way of thinking. A choice must be made to either let go and live or stay unchanged. What do I fear? I fear going fast down hills on a bike. That fear is usually heightened when there are trees, rocks and roots - or a combination of all three. The idea of completely letting go of your brakes sounds crazy - especially when you're facing down a steep drop. I made plenty of excuses - I blamed the weather, blamed the bike: the seat was too low, I was too tall, the trail was too narrow, the tree's too close, I wasn't a downhill biking, I'm not made for speed, I'm a climber, I can't go fast, I'm scared, I might hit a tree, I might get hurt - All of these excuses didn't change the fact that unless I let go, I was going to be scared forever. I was letting my fears control me and I refused to embrace the moment. I was making the choice to not live free. So when did I decide to go for it? It took just three words. My friend told me she felt the same way for the longest time, until one day she just let go. It was that simple. Just let go. A couple minutes later I was faced with yet another steep drop. I stood there for a moment on my bike, and tried to analyze the trail - thinking it would help, but really just buying myself time - stalling from taking that leap. What my friend had said played in my mind again and it was then I decided to just let go. I pushed off the dirt and gripped the handle bars - no brakes. Before I knew it I was speeding down the hill, veering left, jarring right, and avoiding some very close calls with a couple trees. When I finally reached the bottom I felt an overwhelming sense of energy over my entire body - I felt alive! More alive than I had in a long time. My heart was pounding in my chest, I had a huge grin plastered across my face and I couldn't believe what I had just done. There was no time to analyze, to over-think, or let my fears take me down that hill - it was the ability to just let go and live in that moment. Nothing else mattered. To think I would have missed out on such an experience. Imagine being able to re-create that feeling in every day life. Doing one thing every day that scares you: What does that look like for you? Are you living life and letting go of your brakes? Are you truly living free?