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3 things I learned about life from a flying trapeze lesson.

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This Saturday my husband, Dan, and I took a trapeze lesson. It was 1.5 hours of physical and mental challenge. And a whole lot of fun.

It was also educational. I learned a lot about myself, what I’m capable of, and about the unnecessary (and often unreasonable) limits I place on myself (I’m guessing you might do this too). So today I’m sharing some of what I learned.

3 Things I learned about Life from a Trapeze Lesson:

  1. You have to climb one rung at a time.

    When you’re at the bottom of the 30-foot ladder looking up, it feels impossible that you’ll make it all the way to the top. Whether your 30-foot ladder is actually a ladder or it’s a book you haven’t started writing yet or a new business you want to start or the decluttering project you keep putting off, when you are looking at the whole thing from really close up, it’s going to look impossible.

    The only thing to do really is to take a deep breath and climb. One rung at a time. (And keeping your eyes on only the next 1-2 rungs of the ladder, nothing more).

  2. Sometimes the only way forward is to jump.

    When I made it to the top of that 30-foot ladder and climbed onto the platform, I was relieved to be safe again. That is, until I realized that I was now standing on a tiny platform 30-feet in the air and my best hope for getting back to the ground was to jump.

    There comes a time in life (or business or with a project) when things get scary. Looking forward you see that the only thing to do is the scariest option available (give a speech, sign a contract, start hustling,… whatever). And you’ll look behind you and wonder if maybe you wouldn’t be happier to climb back down the ladder. Or just stay there on the platform forever.

    But if you want to LIVE, if you want success, if you really want that dream to come true, you have to jump. It’s called facing your fears, and living courageously. The best things in life often come with scary parts, but getting through those things are a big part of what makes it worth it in the end.

    Take a deep breath, clear your mind, and surrender to the great unknown.

  3. It’s not as hard as you think it is.

    When Dan and I arrived for our lesson, I was worried that I would not be able to do it. I had had one trapeze lesson before seven years ago, but that was when I was 30 pounds lighter and rock climbing several times a week.

    And so in my mind, I didn’t think I’d be strong enough physically to actually get my legs onto the bar as they instructed us to do (especially when I could barely do it with the assistance of the instructor when we were practicing on the ground).

    But the thing is, when you’re swinging through the air, physics take over. And my body took over. I didn’t have time to think about what I could and couldn’t do. When the instructions were yelled at me, I just did it. And while I won’t say that it was easy, I will say that it was easier than I thought it would be.

    So when you are talking yourself out of something because you think it’s too hard or you can’t do it, take the first step. You may be surprised to find it’s not as hard as you think it is.

Bonus: Courage is an action.
For me, every step of the process on Saturday took courage, from climbing the ladder to jumping off of the platform to letting go of the trapeze bar to fall onto the net. There were so many moments when all I could do was take a deep breath and then respond to what was being asked of me.

A lot of things in life are like that too. Courage isn’t a shield that protects you from fear, and it’s not something you put on before you start.

Courage is something you do, it’s the action you take. (Click here to tweet that).

And life, like crazy trapeze lessons, takes courage.

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snowboarding lessons

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Last week was the kids’ winter break, so Dan and I took them to Lake Tahoe for some fun in the snow. We were joined by a couple of friends and their two boys. There was ALOT of boy energy in our rental cabin. And it was a blast.

It was also my first day back snowboarding after taking off about 3 winters. First I have to say thank God for muscle memory. And second…

I am my own worst enemy.

I was so afraid of getting hurt. I was nervous on the ski lift, worried that I’d fall getting off of the lift, and hesitant to make turns from my heel edge to toe edge.

My body was doing it, but my head was still plagued with anxiety. Which made me feel shaky.

I told myself to breathe and to lean into the turn. But for most of the first few runs down the mountain, I was completely in my head. And the longer I waited to turn, the scarier it felt.

Then I took a breathe and made a turn.

I breathed through the scared and just leaned in. After doing this a couple of times, the anxiety left, I got out of my head, and I started to have fun.

Isn’t that a great metaphor for life?

Those moments when you are scared, worried, hesitant, stuck in your head… those are the moments when you stop your forward progress, stop having fun, or you get hurt. Because when you are racing down the mountain, it’s safer (& ultimately more fun) to relax and lean into the turns.

When you hesitate, you get stuck in awkward spots. When you worry about falling, you are more likely to catch an edge and take a tumble.

Or you wear yourself out doing the “safe” thing (like riding my heel edge all the way down the mountain… in my head it seemed safer, but in reality it made my legs tired way faster than turning would have — this is just like in a car riding your brakes down a mountain which can wear your brakes out and be dangerous).

My lessons from snowboarding:

  1. Stop fighting forward progress in the name of ‘safety’.
  2. Get out of your head & trust your body.
  3. Relax, breathe, and have fun!

Where in your life are you wearing yourself out doing the “safe” thing?