Last weekend, I did something I thought I will never ever do in my life – I flew!!!
When presented with the opportunity to sign up for a flying trapeze session at the Trapeze School of New York as an off-site activity, my first reaction was intense fear. Having never been athletic, swinging on a bar, not mentioning hooking up my legs, letting go of my hands and hanging upside down sound downright terrifying. As I listened to the opening keynote speaker at #EOUniNY, and she spoke about living life at the edge and conquering your fear rather than wrapping your comfort zone around you like a coat, something stirred in me. And as she continued on about living up to your “word” which in my case was ‘transform’, I resolved to conquer my fear of heights, my fear of doing something I am convinced I cannot do and I decided to sign up for the flying trapeze. I thank Jamie, my forum mates Hong Ting and Annie as well as Jacob for changing their offsite activity to join me and support me.
When we reached the venue, I started to question what the heck was I thinking when I signed up!!! I was having second thoughts when I was putting on the safety belt. As I climbed up the ladder, I kept praying and visualizing myself completing the entire sequence. Before I knew it, I was off and flying. And the instructor was barking commands, “Knees up”, “Legs up”, “Hands down”, “Arms down”. And before long, I was engulfed in the reassuring safety net.
It was an amazing and transforming experience. I faced my fear, I conquered it and I had fun in the process. And throughout I was thinking of the experience that 9-year-old Corum has shared with me about his own ‘missed opportunities’, where he regretted when he allowed his fear to stop him from trying out something new. I am so glad to come home to tell him that I have been inspired by his story and I wanted to make sure that I would not have a ‘missed opportunity’ like I have had many other times in my life where I would later regret and keep thinking, “I should have done it!”
The actions we take are a result of the story we tell ourselves over and over again.
That day, I decided to change that narrative, shed the mould of what had served me in the past and create a definitive breakthrough. Since then, there has been an amazing energy shift and I have not felt more inspired, more uplifted, more alive.
Gandhi said, “My life is my message.” A reminder to ourselves – What is our message and how are we living it out everyday?
