I'm here with my family and my parents and we're having an incredible time. I've never really seen mountains, so to see the Canadian Rockies has been an unforgettable experience. The views from the plane as we flew over them were a great first taste, but nothing has compared to being here, driving through them, walking amongst them. It's been nothing short of spectacular - the grandeur, the majesty, the snow-capped trees... wow.
It took me a number of weeks to decide whether I would do what I'm doing right now or not - snowboarding at Whistler. It's mighty expensive to snowboard (or do anything...) up here, I've only snowboarded once before, I was terrified about taking a double-black diamond run by mistake, was it all going to be worth the risk...?
However, after much research and some coaxing from others, I reached the decision that I knew was inside me... If I didn't do it, I would always wish I had.
A number of years ago, Ali and I took a trip along the Great Ocean Road in Australia and as part of it, we went to Bells Beach. Same deal - terrifying, not really that good a surfer, (not the same issues about cost, though...!). However, I plucked up enough courage to head out, paddled out, sat there for a while ... then caught one wave back in - it was terrifying! There's a huge reef there, the waves are incredibly powerful, I knew I was out of my depth, but it's something I'll always be able to hold on as an amazing experience to and I have an even greater respect for people who can surf beaches like Bells.
As you read this, I may well have had lived out the same reality - terrified, caught the lift up, one run down and I was done (hopefully not!), but I know this will be something I'll always hold on to.
My reflections are about what held me back and in the end, a lot of it came down to fear. Fear of not knowing what I was doing, fear of getting lost, fear of the unknown... It's been an interesting journey through that and I know, having made this decision, I will be in a better position to be more confident when other opportunities come up. Otherwise, who knows what I'll miss out on...
What are your greatest fears?
What might you be missing out on because of those fears?
What is one thing you'd like to do this year that is outside your comfort zone?
Glad you're having a great time! We've been thinking about you guys and I'm excited that you've gotten to experience it. You beat Bri to it - he's still got to go out west!
ReplyDeleteWas chatting about fear with a group a few weeks back and we decided that the only time any of us ever had any fear is when we were dealing with the unknown.
ReplyDeleteThis would make asking 'what is your greatest fear?' is effectively asking 'what are you most ill at ease with not fully understanding?'
Ever since when fear's shown up, I've looked for the unknown I'm not at ease with and then made peace with not knowing - the fear dissolves.
Great call, Josh. You're absolutely right that when fear kicks in, it's almost always because we're not sure what the result is going to be - otherwise we wouldn't be afraid, because we'd know what was going to happen and decide accordingly...!
ReplyDeleteI would say the same about faith - faith is only required when we're stepping out into the unknown - if we knew, we wouldn't need faith. I heard a podcast the other day where a leader was saying that faithfulness is actually the same as taking risks. Again, no risks, no need for faith.
Thanks for your reply!