Blog #581: Haunted by Three Monsters

I practice inspiring EVERY morning.

It starts with…

Me on the floor.
Flat on my stomach.
Looking under the bed.
Practicing doggy talk.

And…

Trying to coax a little dog to come out from hiding.

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That’s EMi in the photo above.

Her name stands for Extra Mile…but ironically, facing mornings with “extra mile” passion is not her thing.

Hiding under the bed is.

She thinks there’s Giant Dog Monsters outside waiting to get her.

Her fear is real.

Fear is always as real as a thinker thinks.

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FEARS.

They’re not the easiest thing to admit we have…but I do.

And…

I’m choosing to say “Hi” to one of mine.

Here’s my scoop.

PRE-Covid…

I booked every night of a coast-to-coast walk across Scotland.

The trip was cancelled, however, as international travel stopped.

However, since my cancellation…

I’ve put off re-booking the 134-mile walk.

I grew MORE afraid.

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Despite previous success in having walked across eight countries…

When I think about walking across Scotland, three brutal images agonizingly paint my brain:

COLD…that stings the bones.

WIND…that is nasty mean.

RAIN…that attacks you sideways.

The three are my Monsters.

I humbly confess…

I’ve let the three haunt my head ever since cancelling my first trip. Whatever realistic size they really are…they’ve mentally grown as big as King Kong. My self-talk regarding re-booking Scotland has turned into pure self-sabotage.

It ends up…

EMi and I have something huge in common.

We’re both afraid of Monsters.

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Of course, I KNEW when I first booked the trip…

Scotland’s ever-changing weather would be a challenge. Having been to the country before, I’ve experienced how horrendous it can be.

But PRE-Covid…

I was tougher.

In the three years since my original booking…my fear has grown bigger.

And now, I have joined EMi under the bed.

Except in my head.

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BUT there comes a time when we just gotta’ say…

“Enough is ENOUGH!”

On August 2…

I fly to Glasgow, Scotland.

Then…

On August 4…

I start walking from Helensburgh on one side of the country to Dunbar on the other side.

I create my plan now with the confidence that – when the time comes – my courage will grow bigger. It has every moment I’ve ever needed it to be.

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Life doesn’t get better as a HIDER.

And I’m not one.

I’m gonna’ do this.

Publicly sharing my goals has routinely proven to be a great accountability system. In sharing with you now, I burn the bed I’ve been hiding under.

It’s time to say “Hi” to my Monsters.

You can decide if it’s time for you to say “Hi” to yours…too.