Fears are no joke! They can at times keep you from the thing you want the most and keep you stuck for years, maybe even a lifetime. But what is fear and how can we challenge the fears that hold us captive?
Last night I went to a social outgoing with a group of leaders in my community. And can you guess where the meeting was? Wait for it… wait for it… it was at SkyZone! Yes, you heard correctly, SkyZone! Now if you don’t know what SkyZone is, basically it is a trampoline park. Obviously, its’ target demographic of consumers are children, but we foolishly decided it may be a good idea for us adults to give it a go.
Now let me tell you something. I have a FEAR of trampoline parks, specifically SkyZone.
Why, might you ask?
Well, about two years ago I had the GRAND idea to take my daughter to a glow in the dark jump. It was a great and fun time until I jumped feet first into a foam pit and heard a “snap” followed by jeering pain in my ankle. In tears, I pulled myself out of the pit and onto the mat. My poor daughter had to assist me in wobbling to the nearest bench. It hurt SO BAD, not to mention my ankle swelling to the size of a small grapefruit. I knew then I would not be returning to that forsaken place of jumping to further risk injury to myself.
But now, two years later, I was invited to go.
I had a choice: would I stay stuck in my fear or face it.
As I began thinking, the counselor in me reminded myself what I tell so many, the only way I can get past my fear is to challenge it.
So here’s what I did.
Step One:
I first confronted it by showing up (I didn’t chicken out thankfully).
Step Two:
Then I named the fear out loud, expressing my fear to the guy checking me in. He told me, “Ma’am no one normally gets hurt on the foam pit.” Was he trying to reassure or offend me? I choose to take it as reassurance. Naming it helped me realize how unlikely it was for me to get hurt again.
Step Three:
Next, I prepared myself by putting on the special socks they provide (gripped socks for jumping). Sometimes just the act of taking a step to face the thing you fear can be transformative.
Step Four:
I walked up to the stairs onto the trampoline and challenged my fear by lightly hopping on the trampoline. Notice I said I “lightly hopped”. I didn’t just dive into the foam pit at first but slowly exposed myself to the thing I was afraid of.
I’ll spare you the extra details, but the point is I conquered my fear one step at a time. Naming it and challenging it.
Slowly my fear got smaller, and I became braver.
After an hour and a half of jumping and no one in my group getting hurt (and we had some acrobats, let me tell you), I recognized and accepted that what happened to me was a fluke event.
Fears and uncomfortable emotions are apart of life.
There is no avoiding them. However, you can get through them. Sometimes it’s riding the wave and other times it’s facing them head-on.
BE INSPIRED
What fears are you facing today? Name them in the comments below.
