Face Down, Fears Up
"Don't look down!".
Funny how that is always the first thing mentioned whenever our feet leave the ground to go to certain heights: roller coasters, bungee jumps, sky dives, and other adrenaline pumping situations. And in typical fashion, both myself & Bri (@brijaywilliams), said it at least once. I recently watched a video of Will Smith talking about our connection to fear and how it can be irrational if we allow it. The majority of humans will talk themselves out of adrenaline pumping adventures before their feet ever leave the ground, in fact for some, just the thought of it is too much to bear. This is when the irrational side of fear begins to kick in. What we choose to ignore is that on the ground, in our daily lives, we are in an equal amount of danger, the only difference is that we believe we are in control of this danger. Take driving on the highway, for example. Statistics show that we are almost 100 times more likely to die in a car accident than you are from sky diving, yet this stops a very small percentage of people from getting behind the wheel of a car. In these daily situations, the illusion of control becomes our comfort zone. We think that because we have our hands on the wheel (even if we are drunk, high, or texting) that our safety is slightly more guaranteed.
What is interesting about that, is that people choose to live their lives & follow their dreams the same way, with the illusion of being in control. How many times have you had people tell you that an idea won't pan out or that starting a business is too risky or that dreaming is for those that fail? We would much rather pretend that we are making decisions for ourselves and that staying in the comfort net of "job security" will keep us afloat. And just like in the sky diving comparison, that too is a lie. Every single day, somebody that once relied on job security, has been laid off or fired from a job, especially present day with the way our Federal government agencies are closing. Yet still, people are just as afraid to take the chance and look fear in the eyes.
This is where Will's comments on irrational fears plays a part. Being afraid of something that you've never seen or experienced for yourself, holds no bearing in reality. What's real is that you will always fail what you don't try. So why not face your fears?
On this trip with Bri, we randomly decided to climb this crane and I promise the feeling that came with it was one of the most freeing experiences I have felt in life. As I mentioned, we both mentioned not looking down as we climbed for stories. What happens when you look down, is that your mind analyzes your distance from the ground and immediately jumps into fear mode, this is the wrong mentality to have. What happens when you look up, is your mind analyzes how much distance remains and excitement begins to build as each step brings you closer. Correlation - Face Down = Fears Up ; Face Up = Fears Down. And what you learn once you reach the top is that those fears you created in your mind, never really existed. As long as you keep moving forward, your forward progress eliminates all fear. And for all of those following my comparison, the same applies to life. The moment you begin to analyze how much can actually go wrong, is the moment you have already lost. Focus on the positive, how close you are to the finish and you will always find yourself a step closer to victory.
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