©MostlyVictoria

We all have our fears, our personal demons; the things that make our pulse race and our palms clammy – right??

As a kid I growing up in the nineties, I remember this song – the “sunscreen song”… you know the one? It struck a chord with me then and still does now, it inspires me. The words, are wise and in places, quite touching. If you haven’t listened to it before, I encourage you to take the 7 minutes (yes it really SEVEN minutes) to hear it through.

So what’s my point? Let me explain; My fear is enclosed spaces – I get claustrophobia.

Much as I try to rationalise my way out of these situations when they arise, panic almost always sets in, sometimes are worse than others. Sometimes I will try, but have to give up when it’s too much… sometimes I try it and I succeed… but one things’s for sure, I’ll ALWAYS give it a go. Why?? Because I have these words forever engrained in my mind:

“DO ONE THING EVERY DAY THAT SCARES YOU”

The mantra comes from that sunscreen song. Note: I’m pretty sure some other wise person did say this, probably waaaay before Baz Lurhman took Mary Schmich’s words and turned them into a chart hit.

On this day I did do one thing that scared me… on this day I did succeed… and so I was rewarded… with an awesome view… © MostlyVictoria

It’s ‘Arthur’s Seat’ from the ‘Scott Monument’ looking across Edinburgh.

If you have ever climbed it for yourself then you will know that the monument has four viewing platforms – there’s a single stairwell, used for all traffic, everyone going up AND everyone going down. It becomes increasingly narrow with every level you ascend. It becomes harder to negotiate as the steps get steeper and the footing space gets smaller. The top level being the worst… (in claustrophobic terms) you really do have to hope you don’t meet someone coming down – else one of you is going to need to back up (or down) to let the other past.

Now the view… from the top? It really was an AWESOME enough reward… but what made it even better?? It was knowing that I can be scared… I can power through… and I CAN beat my fear. You can too… if you:

DO ONE THING EVERY DAY THAT SCARES YOU!