Overcoming Our Fears In Adventuring
It’s amazing when we look back at our own videos and see ourselves doing adventures that we might never had tried in our 30s. I had never dreamt about shark diving in my life. But it was on my husband’s bucket list. Now, I love shark diving! To see sharks and other marine life swimming below and around you in the ocean fascinates us. We become mesmirized and forget many of our fears!
The funny thing is that we don’t really think about the risks as much as we did when we were younger. Oh, sure, I am still afraid of heights and know that to walk a cliff I need a certain width on the path. But, when we research our adventures and get caught up in lifelong dreams, we forget most of our fears.
For example, we want to snorkel with whales, orcas, and sharks. It is our bucket list goal to see as many of these amazing creatures as we can. However, although we know we must be strong swimmers and some waters will be very cold, we just know we have to try it.
During my “career” I was more hesitant, trying to weigh all the risks before jumping in. And, I hated screwing up in public, where everyone could see my mistakes.
But in my adventures, I screw up all the time! While hiking back with the river flow on the Narrows, I fell in three times! Everyone was asking “Are you okay? “We thought we lost you!” I was thinking, “Wow, what a hike!”
We are not the crazy adventurists who get permits for extreme trips. I don’t think I will ever hike Half-Dome in Yosemite. I could be wrong, but it is not on my bucket list right now. We are simply an average, middle-aged couple who want to share our experiences with each other.
Having said that, though, once we find an adventure we want to try, we try not to let our fears get into the way. Oh sure, I didn’t want to do Angels Landing the first time I visited Zion National Park. I thought I might need a few more height adventures under my belt first! But, I haven’t marked it off my list yet.
And, we don’t complete every adventure we attempt. We did not feel comfortable hiking up the loose rock to Andrews Glacier in the Rocky Mountains National Park. However, although we didn’t complete the hike, we enjoyed it immensely. We still believe the journey is the most important part of an adventure.
Also, the more we adventure, the more comfortable we become with other adventures. After full-time rving for several years, we want to start traveling to other countries! We haven’t seen the entire U.S. Maybe we will and maybe we won’t. We simply enjoy dreaming about the next adventure we want to attempt!
Again, we don’t want to be too afraid of crime, customs, and language barriers to not experience some amazing places and adventures in other countries. We have met some marvelous people while traveling through the U.S. They have opened our eyes to oversea travel by explaining it simply to us, “Just buy the ticket!”.
We can’t wait to experience other cultures, festivals, and landscapes! Working and meeting people from other countries and U.S. global travelers has increased our hunger for more adventures.
Oh sure, we try to be a little prepared before we jump in. We want to know at least a few polite words in languages. We want our luggage to be a little secure. And we want to research the country a little. However, you never really know what to expect until actually experience it.
We still have a lot more in life to see and do! Overcoming fears enables you to life the life you want. Afterall, life itself is just an adventure where we grow, become more confident and make errors along the way. And, if I can snorkel with a whale while doing this, all I can say is “Wow, what an adventure!”