Having the courage to step to the plate will take you far. The sky is the limit where you can go. But what if you are having a hard time mustering up the strength to step to the plate?
I will never forget it. As a kid I grew up skiing, and then in my teenage years decided to give snowboarding a shot. I had some experienced snowboarder friends and told them about my interest. Of course they encouraged me, gave me all the tips on what gear to get and we arranged a time to head up to the mountain and they’d teach me.
We got up to the mountain, and I asked my friend what run we’d be trying out first. Mind you, I thought he’d say the beginner slope. Nope. I guessed wrong. He said the first run of the day was a black diamond. Now I have done black diamond runs on skis but translating that into a snowboard is a wee bit different. I was sweating a bit, and thought well, I have skateboarded for a while so I should be able to do this, no problem.
I strapped the board on my boots near the lodge, stood, pointed in the direction of the lift, and started sliding forward, and wham fell within the first few feet. Not off to the greatest start for my first time, especially considering in the next half hour I’d be standing, at the top of a black diamond with some eager friends to go down.
At the time I thought I was giving in to peer pressure. The thought crossed my mind that if I hadn’t gone with these friends that I wouldn’t have ridden my board down a black diamond the first time. I now know better.
I cowboyed up and strapped on my snowboard eagerly awaiting my chance to prove to myself that I could do it. My instincts kicked in and I turned out to be a surprisingly good snowboarder. After I learned how to not catch my edges and slam face first into the snow.
Work your way into it
I had to take steps to get to the top of that black diamond:
- Research and get the gear
- Find friends (support) to get me there
- Push myself to do it
- Glean the efforts of my courage
The same steps can be modified for a life experience in building up enough courage to step up to the plate.
- Research, learn more about it
- Get some support from family, friends, and strangers if needed
- Tell yourself you can do it, and then do it
- Self-evaluate, look back and ask yourself how you did
Courage is not a dime a dozen
There aren’t that many courageous people in the world. A high percentage of those who get through life never chase their dreams or step up to the plate.
What gives us purpose in life is different for everyone, but your purpose is not to ignore and drive yourself away from the things that you love, it’s to bring you closer to it.
Question: What do you do to overcome your fear and boost courage?
(Photo credit: Paul Jerry)