I've been called a Daredevil (and sometimes even crazy) for doing the things that I do. But there's actually very little risk at all in everything I do.
It occurred to me today, while listening to the song I posted below, that there are two different elements at work which allow me to do the things I do.
Number 1 (in more ways than one) - complete love for myself and trust in myself.
I joke around that I'm invincible, but one of the dangerous attitudes in flying is believing that bad things will never happen to you. By all means, be positive in your thinking but also realize that bad things can and do happen Realize that they CAN happen to you and prepare accordingly for them. Ask yourself "if A happens, what is my plan?". Be prepared by believing in yourself and in your training.
Number 2 - Trust in others.
In these type of situations, one must also put their trust into others and give up at least a little bit of control. Others include other people of course, and also animals and the tools I may use in my endeavors.
The pilot prepares in case of an emergency. He (or she) need to trust in themselves and their training to get out of potentially hazardous situations. Also, he needs to put his trust into that airplane as well. Without either of those, he will not make it. The risk element of flying in an airplane will also go down because of all the time the pilot has put into his training, all of the maintenance that goes into the airplane.
The aerobatic pilot has all of the above and also prepares even more by having a parachute. He must put his trust in that parachute, in addition to everything else a normal pilot must put his trust into.
When I went ziplining, the only thing holding me onto that zipline was my hand weighing down the pulley. I had to have trust in myself and the zipline in order to do it. We were even given a little bit of training before we went up in the trees.
Same thing getting into the water with a beluga whale - I had to trust myself, the trainer and the whale. Again, we were given a little bit of training before we got into the water.
Roller coasters are no different. Have to trust myself that I will be okay, trust the restraints and trust the engineers. I did my own training by watching Youtube videos before I went.
Even walking on a high ropes course - I was attached to the line above me the whole time. Even though it felt like I was free when the rope was slackened, I was firmly attached and not going anywhere. I had to trust myself and that line/hook I was attached to.
Surgery - I had to trust that I was strong enough to make it through and trust the doctor who rooted around near my brain. We did tests ahead of time to make sure I'd be okay and they hooked up tons of monitors/cameras to me to ensure that.
Spartan Race - had to trust in myself enough to know I was going to make it and trust in the others who helped me over obstacles.
There have been many more, although lining them up like this it's easy to see that they aren't that different at all. Just a simple formula of trusting myself and trusting others and like P!nk once aptly sang in one of her songs - "Ever look fear in the face and say 'I just don't care'?"
Maybe, just maybe ... I am much closer than I ever thought of conquering my greatest fear. One that I thought I might never be able to face ever again, even after all of my "fear conquering".
