A 'Fearless Holiday' Postcard
Sending you a ‘holiday postcard’ from Fichtenwalde, Germany today!
I had a very full day with 8 hours of training today, and yet I followed through on what I wanted to do for myself (snuck in during small chunks of time before work and during quick breaks), and these three beautiful experiences resulted:
I jumped into the pond!! A simple and ‘normal’ experience for many, but a big step or should I say, “splash” for me! I grew up a city girl and I get quite freaked out by even the thought of being in water with ‘creatures’ in it….algae, insects, fish…it all freaks me out! Luckily this one didn’t have fish in it (that is still a huge fear for me, believe it or not!) but the algae and the little bugs I could see. Plus, I’m not a confident swimmer, so jumping right into the deep middle bit was quite scary for me! And to top it all, the water was cold!! …..Or at these are all of the things that went through my fear mind as I stood there at the side of the pond. But I jumped!! Right there in the splashy, refreshing centre, and loved it!! (I have to confess, it took a few minutes - and my husband nearly lost his patience, cold as he was waiting for me in the water, at my suggestion! But I jumped!)
I made friends with the ‘bossy cat’ of the house! He can be temperamental and scratches and bites…..but now follows me around everywhere! I feel so much love for him, and enjoy our little breaks and walks together! I’ve been afraid of cats since I was bitten by a pet cat at 8 years old. So this is also a big one for me!
And I went cycling through the town! Again, my fear self makes such a big deal of cycling because I’m scared of traffic, I’m worried about the terrain, I’ve lost my confidence as I haven’t cycled in 10 years, and so on and on it goes, trying to discourage me from an activity I actually really enjoy! And today, a quick lunch-break cycling trip to explore the town and the woods was just what the body and the soul needed!
What a beautiful day!
And since I love to reflect and introspect, here are my two little ‘takeaway’ fearless foods for thought today:
1) No matter how real you think your limitations are, they are not. As I learnt again today, our fears are not a given. Not everyone looks at the world as we do; what we look at fearfully may be a beautiful experience for someone else. And just because those fears have limited us for years does not mean they have to limit us today.
2) You can always go beyond your limitations. Always. No matter how far we have come in our journey to live a life without fear, or how much we think we can’t change or overcome some fears, we can always go beyond. Always.
Hope you allow yourself to beyond one limitation today and wishing you a beautiful day ahead!
