Yesterday I took my kids to Busch Gardens here in Tampa, Florida. My son wanted to go on all the roller coaster rides, especially those that were the ‘scariest.’
“I’m a risk taker,” he said to me as we walked the short hill up to a ride called the Shiekra. On this ride your feet are hanging in mid-air. Up you go some 200 feet, then you are plunged straight down.
Yes, it’s a straight 90-degree drop.
Naturally my son didn’t want to go it alone, so I agreed to ride along with him.
The first drop was freaky. I thought my stomach might come out – it was that fast and disorienting. But I stayed calm and breathed deeply from my lower abdomen.
The second drop was nearly the same, but oddly enough, not half as scary as the first. This proves the Emerson saying, “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”
If you’d like a taste of this ride you can observe the fearless video someone made, while on the ride.
After the Shiekra we went on a couple more rides that were longer and.. if you can imagine, even scarier. This one called the Kumba had you doing aerial 360’s at 60 mph.
Yes, while on this one I was very busy doing my Zen Master breathing exercises. Yeoow.
When we left the park my kids were talking about “next time.” You mean you didn’t get enough today.
Nope. It’s the love of fear, baby.
And it’s verifiable proof that we aren’t forced to hate the things we fear. We make choices all the time. We choose to love fear and call it risk taking. Or we hate what we fear and call it dread.
Either way, you are right.
Even so, why not think of something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet? Something you can see yourself doing as you say, “I’m a risk taker.”
After you’ve done the thing – I’m betting you’ll realize how much courage you’ve got stored inside of you, longing for the moment you let it out.
One thing is for sure, in my book, most risks we fear are a lot less risky than the roller coaster rides I went on yesterday.
Matt Furey
author of The Unbeatable Man and Combat Conditioning
P.S. Tomorrow, a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT about my “Model Me” seminar being held in Clearwater Beach, Florida, first week of December. At this event you’ll be able to “watch me” come up with an idea for a product, map out the idea, research it, choose a title, write the ad, have the website created and the product launched LIVE. This is something I’ve never done b4 – and it will be far MORE POWERFUL than listening to me talk about my creative process. You’ll watch in ACTION.
Afterward you’ll be able to “ask me” any question you have about the process, as I take you behind the curtain of my creative process and reveal all the missing pieces to the puzzle so that you can “model me” with effortless ease.
By the way, you’ll also get to observe me as I do all my breathing exercises and other movements that supercharge my mind/body to create with focused precision.
More details manana.