In junior high and high school I was a gymnast. In the beginning you learn how to simply swing back and forth, learning how to use your body to create more and more momentum.
Once you become comfortable with swinging you then learn how to do a kip. This requires some technique and timing. On the outside, it looks very simple. However, there are many little movements that must be coordinated and timed to complete the move. Eventually, the goal is to kip up and cast as high as you can so as to let your body drop and allow your body to swing completely around the bar. Of course, the bar is 9 feet off the ground and what looks so effortless from the outside, is not so easy. No matter how many times you swing back and forth, at some point you are going to have cast as high as you can and let gravity work. Allowing the process to happen is always the toughest part. Why is it so tough to just let it happen -fear!
What ultimately allows a gymnast to allow their body to swing through the air around the bar is faith. Eventually, you have to believe you are going to get all the way around.
We all get to that place when doing something for the first time where fear hangs out and you have to choose to move through it.
Most will never become a gymnast or have to swing entirely around a bar. But at some point you will have something in front of you, something new and scary, that you have to face and get over. We all get to that place when doing something for the first time where fear hangs out and you have to choose to move through it. Your first class, your first time sparring or rolling live, your first competition, the list goes on.… Will you allow fear keep you from taking the next step? Will fear stop you from starting something new or will you have faith in the process, let yourself go and just have fun doing something totally new?
I can tell you I have done both. I have hesitated and even prevented myself from experiencing something new. On the other hand, I have ‘casted straight to handstand and let it rip.’ I have taken chances to do new things, meet new people, experience the curiosity and joy of being a complete beginner again. What is it that prevents you from taking that swing? Whenever you are at the cusp of doing something new and hesitate to jump, you must not let fear win. Courage is not about the lack of fear; courage is about being afraid and doing it anyway.
Learning to trust the process will allow you to experience many things that will never be there if you allow fear to control you. Learn to simply let go. It’s something I wish I would have done it always throughout my life. Just like when I went for that first giant swing in gymnastics. Start doing those things you are putting off, that you may be afraid of, but will benefit your life….you’ll be happy you did.
