With the wild things I’ve done, you wouldn’t believe me when I say that I’ve been a scaredy cat all my life. I’m a hard core rule follower, I never walked on the monkey bars (Hello, they’re for your hands), and I cried when my sister made me go on rollercoaster rides. I never wanted to sky dive, ride a plane, or go too high on the swings. I played it safe and I really liked it there.
But then one Disneyland trip, when my daughter was 3, I had the time of my life! And it wasn’t because I kept it safe. I rode all the rides, even the loopy rollercoasters y’all, and I couldn’t have cried harder from laughter. One ride, I laughed so hard I thought my Invisalign was going to pop out. It was the best.
What I realized on that trip almost 10 years ago, was that I was missing out on life and the joy it could bring by playing it too safe. I had missed out on laughter by sitting on the sidelines and allowing fear to keep my feet glued to the ground.
I didn’t know it then, but that trip started a domino effect of thrill rides and adventures to come. Outside of amusement parks and in all kinds of areas of my life. Safe on the sideline was no longer my foundation.
Simple thrill rides and laughter opened my eyes to what being brave could do vs what being scared was doing.
It’s not that rollercoasters help you become the person you were meant to, it’s the act of challenging the fear that would normally keep you down that does.
Fear is a liar. And my “play it too safe” mentality wasn’t keeping me safe, it was making me miss out. As a child I allowed fear to win. I didn’t play like I wanted to because of it. Then as an adult I could see that young girl stuck on the sidelines still in fear, and I stayed there with her for way too long.
Friend, that is not how we should live. Sidelines with popcorn. We should live, we should fall, scrap our knees, get back up and keep running. We should feel the wind in our hair and heart beating fast in our chest from time to time. We should experience the rollercoasters of triumph, and sometimes defeat. Those experiences are the ones that help us break free, help us learn, help us progress and grow in life. Sideline living won’t water you. It’ll keep you stale.
I’m not saying go skydiving to truly live. I’m saying that being brave no matter how big or small can SPARK MORE BRAVERY in you. So yeah, I guess in a way I am saying go strap on that parachutes friend. (Please don’t)
Allow the domino effect of courage to happen in your life. Allow the fear to creep in but then replace it with curiosity of what will happen when you challenge it with courageous action.
I have zip lined from one tall hotel building to another with just a common seatbelt holding my body down, I have flown on a helicopter in the Vegas skyline asking the pilot to do flips, I’ve ridden the rides, I’ve rode the airplanes and hiked to peek that showcase so much beauty and wonder. And because of those experiences, I’ve said yes a lot more to adventure within my family, my work, my purpose, my hobbies. I am no longer sideline living, and although it’s never perfect- it feels good to challenge fear and choose faith instead.
You see, that domino effect didn’t stop on the Vegas skyline, that bravery has transitioned into being brave enough to start this blog, to publish my children’s book, to start and sell businesses, to go back into the corporate world as a leader, to write a women’s devotional, to just GO FOR IT.
Brave in the little, created brave in the lot. As if one piece of bravery allowed me to build a lifetime of the most amazing puzzle.
Don’t allow fear to shackle you, friend. Don’t allow the chains of fear to literally keep your feet on the ground and your dreams chained up, when you were meant to fly. Literally and figuratively.
God, the One that set us free, is waiting for you to grab hold, be brave, and go after the things He has placed in your heart.
He did not give you a Spirit of fear. He wants you to do so much good. He is waiting for you to jump off the dock, hear the screams on the rollercoaster, kill all the spiders, and chose life. Why? Because He knows on the other side of your fear there’s FREEDOM, JOY, BRAVERY, STRENGTH, and PURPOSE!
He chose you and gave you the desires you have for a purpose. And He (and I!) want you to be brave enough to follow that purpose. No matter what being brave looks like for you, you can do it. It’s just taking that first step first and placing that first piece of the puzzle down.
Then, domino effect of courage will begin…
Xoxo,
Stephanie
Your “I was scared but now I’m not” friend
After the zip line from one roof building to another.
Las Vegas skyline from a private helicopter tour I won!