I often hear the phrase “step outside of your comfort zone.” And I’ll meet people who live their lives within the boundaries of their comfort zone. What I’ve come to learn about myself is, not that I don’t have a comfort zone, but I make choices every day to live outside of it.
Since I can remember I have always been a yes person. Roller coaster? Yes. Jet skis? Yes. Motorcycles? Yes. I never really developed fears when growing up. I have a habit of going against the grain, so when I learned some people are afraid of heights I made sure not to allow myself to fall into that fear or let it control me. I think growing up with an older brother who liked frogs and snakes helped.
I tend to be the most fearless of my friends. It’s not that I’m not smart, I’d just rather live my life fully, not afraid of what, 1 in a million chance might happen. I like going skydiving, and jumping off cliffs, holding tarantulas, and getting lost in caves. Now I won’t lie to you, there is a part of me that gets a little scared sometimes. At the edge of the plane preparing to jump 14,000 ft., or when I nearly drop the tarantula and think I’ve lost my breath. But the difference is I push through it. I do it anyway. I would rather die skydiving than live sitting comfortably in my living room watching tv.
God definitely helps. The worst thing that could happen is the best thing that could happen… I go to heaven, what’s so scary about that? I think we spend too much time controlling our lives and being scared that we’re missing the whole point; God’s whole point. He has so much more for us than what we allow ourselves. I didn’t want to base my perceptions off from what I observe, but come to my own conclusions.
One of my biggest examples is spiders. Everyone and their mother are afraid of spiders. Yes, some spiders are scary and can be dangerous. But your typical little house spider… WHY ARE YOU KILLING HIM!!??! What is so scary about him!? See I think people don’t think for themselves enough. We learn when we’re little, oh, my mom is afraid of spiders, so now I am too. We learn what we observe. If nobody TOLD you to be afraid of spiders… would you be? It’s this follow the leader mentality that shapes us and restricts us from living the life we really could. We’re letting fear control us.
I hope to give my kids one day the same type of fearlessness. I want them to live fearlessly for the Lord. Not fearing what might happen because they know God is with them. You see, I don’t let myself worry anymore. I’m not worried when I’m lost in a cave and can’t find my way out. I trust that God will be with me and work it out. I want them to make decisions on their own and realize that life is only as scary as you let it be.
