Walking the Talk

“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.”

~Unknown

I mentioned last Thursday in a Facebook post that I was being "forced" (by my own choice) outside of my comfort zone. Way outside.

I didn't have time to get into details or post a full blog about it then, but basically I said I was taking my own advice and choosing to LIVE, fully, despite the fears.

Let me tell you what happend. My overworked husband and I had planned a long weekend trip to go camping and boating with some friends. Our destination: about 7 hours north of where we live, near where we used to live.

A 7 hour tow with our Suburban (over 200k miles on it) and our 21' jet boat, over the steep hills and curves of I5 in Southern Oregon, north through Eugene and then traffic heavy Portland, and then up into the foothills of Mt. Saint Helens to Lake Merwin, is a long tow.

Our plan was for hubby to work in town that day (he covers a HUGE area of Southern Oregon) and hopefully get on the road a bit early from home. That was the plan.

And then the pager went of. Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep!

My hubby is on call 24/7. When the Beep Beep goes off hubby has go to go. He had worked the 5 previous weekends straight. This was to be his one off call weekend over a span of 9 weeks. Yah, he is overworked.

Hubby had to go north, to Roseburg, Oregon...about 2 hours north of here.

That left me at home and hubby 2 hours away.

So where does the fear facing, walking the talk, LIVING life part come in??

With this:



About 40 ' of Suburban and Boat



I hauled our boat up I5 for over 100 miles, through the twisty hills, by myself.

Yes.

I have towed the boat around a bit here and there, at the boat docks when we pull out of the water, mostly. I have also hauled a car trailer around a bit, here and there.

But I have never hauled our boat trailer up the freeway for over 100 miles totally alone.

It was SCARY to contemplate BUT it was amazingly empowering to accomplish!

Luckily I had no problems.

I saved my poor hubby from having to drive 2 hours north, work all day, drive 2 hours back home just to get in the 'burb and drive those same 2 hours all over again, plus 5 more!

It was exhilirating. Empowering. Amazing.

Talk about a confidence booster!

THEN, while we were camping, not only did I pull the boat out of the water, but I also BACKED it up into our campsite!

Amazing.

I also drove the boat some this weekend on the lake, which is normal, but I keep practicing pulling up to the dock, and this time, up along side of our friends boat so we could raft up.

Other things that I realized this weekend about how DOING conquers fears:

I used to be massively nervous about driving I5 in S. Oregon due to the series of very steep hills and tight corners. I now have done it so often that even though I was hauling the boat, I had no fears about the road itself.

Also, I used to get very nervous if I had to drive my husbands truck because it has a canopy on the back that you cannot see out of at all. Again, I have done it enough now that it didn't even create a second thought in my mind.

It is incredible to me how many of our fears can be overcome just by the doing, the living, the being, the actively participating in our lives.

There are fears I have never overcome, even though I have been exposed to them time and time and time again, so I don't believe that exposure to a fear ALWAYS breeds comfort, but it is empowering to know that it is *possible*.

It is possible that what you fear today will become completely insignificant tomorrow, if you focus on living your life and facing your fears.

My weekend was an amazing, and ongoing, lesson on how living my life really does impact my outlook on life.

There were many lessons; many examples of times when I could have chosen to live or to wilt like a wall-flower.

I choose to live.

Today.



"It was then that I carried you."

 

Footprints in the Sand

One night I had a dream--

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me."

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.

"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

~Mary Stevenson~

Copyright Mary Stevenson

One of my favorite poems. I have loved it since I was a child.

I needed to be reminded tonight, after a difficult day, that I am not alone. That I have support and love. That the Lord said he would never leave me during times of trial and suffering.

So I am going to head to bed knowing that the Lord will carry me.

Peace to all tonight.

Overcoming Fear

 

 

"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise..."

 

~ Dawna Markova

(source)

 

 

 

 

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."

 

~ Dale Carnegie

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
You must do the thing you think you cannot do. "

 

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

In light of my recent resurgence of anxiety attacks, these quotes are meaningful for me today. This is how I am attempting to live my life. I will not sit back and let life pass me by due to my unfounded anxieties. I will look fear in the face and take steps to overcome it, go under it, around it, and sometimes I will just have to go through it.

 

I refuse to give in to the fears and live a shadow of a life. I will get out there and live the life I want, today. I will not wait and I will not allow fear or anxiety to prevent me from seeing, doing and living the amazing life I know I can have.

 

I will inspire my own inner light and use that light to guide me through the times of darkness and fear.

 

I have the power and the light. I create my own inner peace. I am the inspiration of my own light.

 

 

"It's All About The Climb" ~ Miley Cyrus

I am not a huge Miley Cyrus fan. I've never seen Hannah Montana, nor am I familiar with most of her music. This song, however, definitely has a message.

So often in life we are so focused on The END, The GOAL, The ACHEIVEMENT, that we forget about the process.

The process IS our life!

We can't forget that the climb to achieve the goal is what makes the success of achieving it so sweet.

Enjoy the moment.

 Bask in the difficulty.

 Breathe in the struggle.

Feel the sweat.

 Embrace the challenge.

And remember, "It's all about the climb!"

The Climb lyrics
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J;

I can almost see it

That dream I am dreaming

But there's a voice inside my head saying

"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying

Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be a uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes might knock me down

But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it

But these are the moments that

I'm gonna remember most, yeah

Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong

Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be a uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing

Keep the faith, baby

It's all about, it's all about the climb

Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago. I was reminded this weekend, after a difficult time with my anxiety, of the truth of the words I wrote, and the truth of Miley's song. I was also reminded that sometimes the climb takes a fork to the left or right of the original path, and that this change of direction still can lead us to our final destination.

I went for a hike with friends. The path we were on suddenly became quite narrow with a very steep drop off on the right. I forced myself to continue for awhile, despite my paralyzing fear. At a certain point however, I could no longer continue on that path. My fear, my anxiety, was too great. We turned around.

Was this a failure?

We found another path, with a steeper climb up, but no cliffside, to walk along. Eventually we reached the destination we had been aiming for on the prior path: a small beautiful reservoir.

Life is a journey; a climb. Sometimes, though, the path will lead us to a new direction. This detour does not mean we cannot reach our goal. Nor does it mean that the goal will be less beautiful for having taken a different path to reach it.

Just like with the rules, if your path is not serving you well to reach your goal, then *you* have the power to change your path. There is no failure or shame in changing the path. There is more than one path to take, and very often, there is no one right path...just the best path for you at that time.

So, take the high path, take the fork in the road, change direction if the path isn't working for you.....and, most importantly: don't forget to breathe!