Why You Are Never Too Old To Face Your Fears

This week I forced myself to face one of my fears. This fear came in the shape of many rollercoasters; fast, tall, steep and floorless! As I stood in the queue I continually felt as if my stomach was in my throat and I wouldn’t be able to physically take the step onto the ride. Every single time I stepped off the ride having loved (mostly) every second.


I visited Thorpe Park, a local theme park, with some of my friends recently and was pretty sure the only seats I would be sat in were the teacups and KFC! Some peer pressure from my friends and some stubborn-ness from me meant I conquered 5 of the biggest rides at the park!
I tackled (in order) Stealth, Nemesis, Saw, Colossal and Swarm. I was a sweaty, shivering, swearing mess in the line to each and every ride as I watched people in front of me slide into the seats without a care in the world. I knew I had to do it when I saw kids half my age come off laughing and joking!

Even as I gave in and admitted to enjoying one ride, I queued up acting like a mess for the next…

I guess that’s the thing about fears, they are not rational. Nobody can explain why some people are scared of spiders, or the dark, or flying, or even rollercoasters. They just are.

But something I did learn is that it feels awesome when you have looked straight at that fear and not let it overcome you. When you can say “I am scared of you, but I really wanna do this” you will feel a million feet tall, on top of the world, walking on the clouds and every other empowering cliché you can list.

Because that is what facing your fears does, it empowers you. I am not saying I will be running to the next theme park and be the first in line to go 90mph in under 2 seconds! But I know now that I can and, hopefully, I will again.


                                                 


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