Fear and Unscertainty.

Today is the day, at noon I'll start the 3 hour drive to Georgia to scope out the approach trail prior to taking off in the morning. After months of planning, packing, research, reading etc...this is finally going to happen. With all of the details checked off you can imagine my surprise that I was gripped with a sense of anxiety and uncertainty last night. All of the sudden it was real! A large part of this journey has been to challenge myself, to redefine myself, and to push myself to a place I've never been. So, I'm pushing...a bit reluctantly this morning but I am still pushing.

A Buddhist Monk, Pema Chodron writes:

What we are talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear, looking it right in the eye- not as a way to solve problems, but as a complete undoing of old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and thinking.

A well known marathon runner repeats this mantra when the pain and uncertainty comes: "today I will redefine who I am! I have never been here before and therefore am changing my very person by taking the next step!"

Hopefully your journey will take you to a place of fear this summer. Don't forget...look it straight in the eye and get to know yourself better!

With Peace!
Eric

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