Happy Wednesday!

Today's post is about conquering fears.

Let me start with the story of how a few years ago my friend found her journal from the second grade and there was an entry that said, "Megan is my best friend. She's afraid of everything". Hahaha. So I guess I have always been a bit of a scaredy cat.

But the thing about being afraid is that it feels so rewarding when you are able to push past your fear and just get it done.

The first time I ever went snorkelling was in 2009 in Cairns Australia with my friend Jenn. We had booked a tour on a rainy day and the water was really rough. The boat drove out about 3 hours to the Great Barrier Reef. It started out fun. We had to swim quite a bit to get from the boat to the reef. In between, it just looked like a giant underwater cliff dropping off into nowhere. You could see that the water just went down and down and it got darker and darker. It was spooky.

At one point I wanted to go back to the boat because I kept getting water in my mask. I was trying to tread water to put it back on and I kept getting splashed in the face by waves. I couldn't catch my breath for a second and I completely panicked. My mind immediately thought I was going to drown and sink to the bottom of the ocean and no one would notice. There were two people on the boat, I frantically waved my arms and they asked if I was ok to swim to the little boat which was tied to the back of the big boat. It was closer to me. By then I had calmed down a bit and swam to the little boat no problem. I felt a lot better as soon as I had something to hold on to. One guy jumped in to 'save' me, which was super embarrassing because at that point I already holding on to the boat and not scared anymore. As soon as I was back on the big boat I was sooooo embarrassed. I had completely panicked. My friend came back for a break and I told her about my misadventure and she made fun of me haha which sounds mean but it was actually really good because the teasing helped put me further at ease. I went back out again (this time with a pool noodle!) and it was great! I felt so much better having something to hold onto and I was really glad I got back in the water and enjoyed the rest of the day even though I had been so scared earlier. 

So when Tj and Jacob and I had the chance to go snorkelling again in the Whitsundays there was no way  I was going to pass it up. This time we had to wear wetsuits. I also wore a life jacket and grabbed a pool noodle lol. This time the set up was better. Instead of us swimming to the reef, a smaller shuttle boat took groups of people.

When it came time to jump in the water I was so scared! Jacob and Tj flipped off the back like pros and I was scared to jump in. But they were there calling me on so I jumped and went for it.

The life jacket was definitely overkill. I was floating so much I could hardly swim. It took away from the snorkelling experience for sure. We did get to see some fish and a big snapping turtle which was pretty cool. I definitely inhaled some water and it took a while to get used to the snorkel mask. Jacob was pretty good… he was able to dive right down and then come back up again. But it was a lot of fun and it made the day really special. I will always try snorkelling even if I suck at it and maybe eventually I'll get better.

The lesson I've learned about myself over the years is that even if I'm a scaredy cat, I'm a brave scaredy cat haha. Here are some of my top bravery tips:

Find strength in yourself

When I have moments where I doubt myself, I just remind myself of all the things I've done before. My biggest motivation is that I've already done so many things I've been scared of that I know I can do anything if I set my mind to it. Even if next time you are scared again (like me every time I go to the stupid dentist), knowing you did it before can give you strength to buckle down and do it again.

Find strength from others

My mom especially has taught me that being scared is silly. If it's something situational, I remember how she and my Aunt Roxanne always say to fake it til you make it. There was a time in London and we had a mouse in our flat and it always came out when I was home alone. And I used to call my dad while I was standing on the table refusing to step foot on the ground cause I didn't know where it was. And then I thought of my Babi who used to pick up snakes and slugs and all sorts of stuff at the cottage. And in my mind, Babi would never be scared of a mouse (I don't know if she would have or not, I'm just saying in my mind she was laughing at me LOL). So I forced myself to be brave, like my grandmother haha.

Remember - failing isn't the worst thing in the world

There have been times where I've been afraid, and tried something, and failed. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes I'm just relieved I got it over with. And I'm always still proud of myself for trying. Because there is satisfaction in overcoming something that scares you. And hopefully next time it will scare you a little less.

Just do it

Sometimes there is no advice you just have to face something you are afraid of. Just accept it, take a deep breath and get over it, and go for it!

Everyone is afraid of different things

Some things might be no big deal to you but maybe to someone else, it's the worst thing they can imagine. So you might look like the bravest person ever! Take your bravery points where you can get them. I couldn't care less if I see a spider (in Canada anyways), but some people I know (cough*Jacob*cough) are so wimpy if they see any creepy crawlers.

Go now, take on your Wednesday and next time you face something you are afraid of, conquer your fears like a scaredy cat!

*The above bravery tips do not apply to snakes. They are just the worst!