This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 1539. She believed she could, so she did. By Rachel Shanken of mindbodywise.com, and I'm Justin Molick, the guy who's been reading articles, book excerpts, essays, sometimes stories, every day including holidays for over four years, covering personal development and minimalism on this show mostly. We have a newer show called Optimal Living Advice.
That's hosted by Life Coach and actor Greg Audino, where he answers your personal development and relationship related questions. I think it's a great idea, so please check it out. Subtribing to that podcast is a huge gift to us. You can listen and subscribe to Optimal Living Advice, pretty much wherever you're listening to the show.
And with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. She believed she could, so she did. By Rachel Shanken of mindbodywise.com. She believed she could, so she did.
If you were to see me on the ride there, you would have thought I was headed to my own funeral. My body was wrought with fear and my veins were pulsing with adrenaline. Getting out of the car was one step closer to facing my deepest fear, the biggest challenge I'd ever constructed for myself. You see, to some, what came next would have been no big deal.
But for me, today was the day that I would truly embody being fully who I had worked so hard to become. The kind of person who doesn't believe in, I can't, or I can never. Never? No, I'm not that person anymore.
So a month before, when I heard the words, I can't, I can never do that, tumble out of my mouth. They felt sharp, acidic. The words made me wince. Simple words, but chock full of limitations and self-doubt.
For a whole day, after those seven words spilled out from my fearful heart, I wanted to curl inside myself and never come out. It goes against all of who I had become to say I can't. I couldn't ignore the words and there was only one way to take them back. The very next day, I bought a ticket to jump out of a plane, with a parachute, of course, but still, for me, this was huge.
This was my original, I can't, I could never. But I couldn't live with myself if I just let that dingle out there. I had to face my fear, head on. I had to do it.
The day before my jump, I had passed my mental health counseling licensing exam, which is no small feat. But to me, that was nothing compared to jumping from a plane. I'd never been so frightened in my entire life by something I had chosen to do. I kept reminding myself that this jump, or dive to my death as I feared it might be, was a jump to live powerfully from my most courageous self.
This jump wasn't about skydiving. This was about taking a stand to live fully, and risk, and be limitless in my body, mind, and heart. As the plane lifted off, my tandem hooked us together. Each clip he attached made me jolt a little inside.
Higher and higher, we went. There was no turning back. The videographer asked me some silly questions, and all I could say was, I'm scared, but I'm conquering my fear today. I was conquering my life with courage and authenticity.
All the internal work I had done on myself led to this moment. As we stepped up to the ledge of the plane's open door, I felt the trepidation rise, my heart pounding, hands shaking, legs weak. And then, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and joy throughout my whole body. The moment had arrived, and I was facing it like a champion.
A smile came to my face as it counted. One, two, three. Then we flew off into the vast blue sky together like a graceful bird. When we landed in my first words were, I want to do it again.
I was ready to go up again and again. I didn't that day, but life has presented many opportunities to face my fear since then. Each time I am grateful, I'll be still fearful for the opportunity to feel that fear and to feel the joy that derives from overcoming it. Each time, I am reminded that I am alive.
I am reminded that I can. Here are some valuable lessons I learned about leaning into and flying with my fear. If I believe I can, I'm more willing to risk and live a more fulfilling life. For me, this is what it's all about.
The life I want to live is about feeling the fear and doing it anyway, even when it's a fail, it's a win if I went for it. The regret I feel, body, heart, and mind when I don't lean into my fear is much worse than what I feel when I'm facing it. I want to look back and have as few regrets as possible. Living from fear would yield me a very regretful end.
There's a voice of fear inside us all that's trying to keep us safe, but there's also a voice of, yes, you can that's trying to help us to truly live. I have to be willing to listen to the yes voice. I can acknowledge and welcome the reality of fear being present without trying to banish it. Then I can choose to access the voice of yes and let it be my primary guide.
I can foster this by letting the yes voice be fully experienced in all my senses, my whole body, my breath, and my heart. It feels really amazing to face fear head on. Giving into my fear feels like shrinking, small, and shriveled. Leaning into my fear feels like I can soar like a bird.
I don't have to jump out of an airplane to feel like I'm flying. Telling myself I can feels so much better than telling myself I can't. The anticipation is almost always worse than the fear during and after. Once I was at the countdown on the ledge of the plane, I felt such deep peace and joy.
The days and hours leading up to the jump were not joyful, but they could have been if I knew this tip. Facing my fear helps me build a pool of resilience for future fears, if they are unrelated to the fear I faced in the past. Each time I flex my courage muscle, it gets stronger. I just have to keep on flexing.
No doubt life will keep presenting me with opportunities to flex. In case I forget about my ability to face my fears, I wear the lovely bracelet in the main picture that says she believes she could and so she did from Montreband. It helps me tap back into my courage and resilience. The next time you hear yourself saying I can't, ask yourself if that's who you want to be.
We get such limited time to spread our wings and fly. Make your life meaningful. Lean into it. She said she could, so she did.
You just listened to the post titled She Believed She Could, so she did by Rachel Shanken of MindBodyWise.com. Thank you to Rachel. I hope that one was a nice inspirational post for you on this Thursday, but that should do it for today. Have a great rest of your day.
Thank you for being here listening every day, and I'll see you tomorrow for the Friday episode, where you're optimal life. Oh, wait.