Facing Fears in Bali

“I’ve done two things today that scared me, so why not a third.”

Those were the words I uttered to our friends who were sitting across from us at dinner. We were at Deus in Canggu, Bali getting ready to head to the next spot when we realised that we had no way of getting there. One of the guys chimed in and said, “You could ride on the back of our bikes?”

I felt my stomach get filled with nervous excitement and replayed all of the things I had done that day. There’s something about travel where you feel like when you’re presented with new challenges, it’s your opportunity to rise to the occasion. It’s a chance to build up your strength, courage and to face your fears so that you can move forward.

Earlier that day, I ran across a bamboo bridge that terrified me and conquered one of my biggest fears of all: getting into a balinese water blessing with what seemed like hundreds of large fish. I don’t know where the fear came from, but I’ve been terrified of being close to fish ever since I can remember. 

Fear is inevitable if you’re going into the unknown. A bamboo bridge and fish was my story, but it didn’t really matter what I was afraid of, it mattered that the feeling of fear arose, and I moved forward. The more you continue to feel what you’re feeling and move forward anyway, the more your body will realise that it’s just a feeling and you can move past it.

The more you experience moving forward, even though you felt afraid, the more you can say yes to new experiences and opportunities.

That’s how I started my night with our new friends, telling them that I had already done things that scared me that day, and was ready to move ahead with another. I continued to do things that scared me on that trip and when I got home, it equated into taking more risks in my life. Sometimes you just need to put yourself out there, feel the fear, and move forward anyway. You are stronger than you think.