A friend told me recently that I was fearless – not exactly the words I would use to describe myself but it got me thinking. I’m afraid of a lot of stuff… almost comically so. However, that’s never stopped me from living my life. I still love adventures and trying new things. I still love traveling even though the slightest bit of turbulence has me clutching my arm rests and picturing myself plummeting to the ground. It reminded me of a quote I saw once. I can’t remember it exactly but I narrowed it down to one of these:
"Being FEARLESS isn't being 100% Not FEARFUL, it's being terrified but you jump anyway..."
— Taylor Swift
"To me, Fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death."
— Taylor Swift
“The ads all call me fearless, but that's just publicity. Anyone who thinks I'm not scared out of my mind whenever I do one of my stunts is crazier than I am.”
— Jackie Chan
“I tend to think you're fearless when you recognize why you should be scared of things, but do them anyway.”
— Christian Bale
So when I was standing up on that platform, 25 feet above the ground with barely anything to hold onto, I knew there was only one option. No one climbs back down the ladder. So with my heart racing, I reached out and grabbed the bar… and jumped! I swung back and forth once and then the instructor told me to pull my legs up and wrap my knees around the bar, just like I had practiced on the ground. I swung one more time before he told me to let go of the bar and swing upside down, reaching behind me. Finally, the momentum was fading and it was time to reach up, unhook my legs and drop onto the net below. My heart was racing for a long time while I sat on the bench and waited for my next turn, but I’d done it. The next couple of turns were much easier and I realized that I had an easier time dangling from the bar than most people.
After we’d all had a few turns, the instructor told us that now we were going to be caught by another person. We would do the same first steps but this time we would swing into the instructor, he would grab our arms, and we would unhook our legs from the bar and swing by our interlocked forearms. For some reason, this idea got me scared all over again and it didn’t help that the girl before me wasn’t able to complete the exercise. However, on my turn, I was able to dangle again (albeit, a little more hesitantly) and when I let go of the bar and reached behind me, there was the instructor ready to catch me.
The feeling of literally flying in the trapeze class was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done – more amazing than hang gliding or a roller coaster or doing a tough climb. There was some combination of all of those things though that made it so much more superior… there was the thrill of course, the concept of working with another person, and of course, the challenge of needing to trust your body to go push itself in the most unnatural of situations.
I bought the Groupon for Trapeze Arts on a whim, but I have a feeling I’ll be making my way back there as soon as possible.
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