No fear

Prior to the age of ten I demonstrated no fear of heights. At ten I was riding on the Ferris wheel with my aunt at a local amusement park. When we reached the top, my aunt panicked and made the operator stop the ride to let us off. From then on heights took on a very different meaning for me. I adopted the same panic attack response I had seen in my aunt. My heart would beat rapidly and I would gasp for air. I thought that I would have this condition for the rest of my life. Then something shifted for me. While visiting Paris two years ago, I decided to once again ride a Ferris wheel to view the sights of the city. Strangely enough, there was no panic attached to this experience even though this ride was at least twice the height of the one that initiated the fear 65 years earlier. A week before writing this blog, I took the elevator to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, 377 feet in height. I stood at the railing gazing over the city and even walked across a transparent floor on the first level. No fear. What changed? I have no idea, but the fear I experienced as a 10-year old no longer existed. That doesn’t mean I am ready to sky dive, but it is a reminder that the past does not predict the future. Our fears can be faced and we can be victorious over them. What is a fear you face and what would your life be like if it no longer existed?

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