Don't just Survive, Live

One fear that has plagued me for my whole life is my fear of heights. I have hated heights ever since I was a kid, looking over a cliff,  going down a zipline or even launching off of a rope swing into a pool. Some have told me that what I feel is an irrational fear because in all these instances I have been perfectly safe but I was terrified because I was a few feet above the ground or higher in the treetops. I just don't like the idea of being high off the ground because I don't want to fall and get hurt. This fear has held me back from a lot of things, fun activities with friends like repelling or upper ropes courses. When I was younger I didn't think too much about the fact that I missed out on a fun activity just because of my fear. I was just happy that I wasn't forced to do anything I was terrified of. But now that I'm older, I realize that I missed out on so much and I don't want to miss out on anything else. I promised myself from then on that I would try to overcome my fear and not let it control me. Which proved to be a harder task than I would like to admit. But I've been taking that fear one day at a time and since then I'm not as scared of heights but it still makes me uneasy. How I overcame the major part of the fear is realizing that I wasn't in danger and that I need to calm my mind and just go for it. I do the 1, 2, 3 rule. I made this rule for myself and its really helps me feel like I'm living my life and not letting it pass me by. When I'm in a high up place and I feel my fear starting to rise from my heart to my head I tell myself count to three and go, theres no time for fear, block it out and live. I was going off of a zipline and it was over forty feet in the air and I had to sit down and push myself off while connected to the line and I was mortified because I was very high in the air and the only way that would change is to slide down the zipline. I knew what I had to do so I counted to three and before my fear could talk me out of the act I pushed off onto an exhillarating zipline ride. This was one of the many once in a lifetime experiences  that I was happy knowing that I did because yes I was scared of it but I did it anyway. That makes things all the more valuable in life. All in all this fear has taught me to take a chance and not overthink things or I could be missing out on something incredible. The brave may not live long but the fearful never live at all. Life is too short, enjoy every thrill that life has to offer.