Imagine walking across a skaky, wooden bridge that connects two mountains. Imagine that this bridge creaks with every step taken. Now imagine once you get across the bridge, there being nothing but uneven rock with no guard rails stopping you from falling off the mountain cliff.
Now you understand my fear of heights.
This scenerio took place for me as I was a kid of age 8, on vacation with my family in North Carolina. The death trap, I mean mountain, is called Grandfather Mountain.
Ever since that day, I have been deathly afraid of heights. I feel a little more secure, still anxious, about heights that are secure, i.e. inside tall buildings, but otherwise I'm terrified.
Enter in today's nightmare...but with a good ending.
I decided to go to the Strawberry Festival today with my sister and her kids. I see them now and again, but not enough, so getting to see them today was great.
My fears were put to the test today when my nephew said he wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel. My sister had told him she didn't want to ride it, but to ask his uncle (me) if I wanted to. I told him no, but he became very sad, so I agreed to do so. I was a nervous wreck, but didn't want him to see I was, so I played it cool.
As we sat down and the gate locked, my heart started to race. "Am I going to have a panic attack?" I thought. I told myself it would all be ok and pushed through.
As we started moving, my heart rate picked up and really began feeling scared. But then something happened.
I looked at my nephew and he said to me, with a smile, "Thanks Uncle Josh. This is awesome!"
My heart calmed, vision cleared. My fear died down and a sense of joy came over me. I had pushed through and brought joy to someone else by overcoming a fear.
Now I know this is not the end all - be all of my fear, but damn was it a nice step. Fear had turned to exhilaration and in turn I made my nephew happy.
Hey, it's not skydiving, but still a big step for me. I write all this to say:
Anything is possible if you put your heart into it.
What a day. So here you go. These are the shots I took while up there:
One love and happy Steeming!
