Let's talk about fear

I love rock climbing, but I have fear of heights. I am basically screwed.

This is how it usually plays out:

I go up quickly while I have the right holds, feeling like a champ, but as soon as I am unsure how to reach the next one or if I should jump even just a tiny bit to be able to continue my way up, I freeze. I have cold sweat, and my heart jumps out of my chest. So, I ask the person holding the rope to let me down. He encourages me to continue. I ask him again nicely; please let me down. My anxiety grows as he assures me he won't let me fall. I look down. Now I am terrified. I hold on to the wall like my life depends on it. He still insists that I am doing great.

I know nothing will happen to me even if I can't reach the next hold, but I can't help it. I have a panic attack. I am like a cat stuck in a tree.

My fingertips turn white. I keep repeating, "I have to go down. Please let me go down." He understands that I am serious. I hold on to the rope and descend slowly. I reach the ground, calm down, and return again. As I told you, I like climbing.

This happened so many times that I decided to save the argument and tell the belayer beforehand about my fear of heights, and if I stop and want to come down, just let me down, even if it's just a few feet up on the wall. This way, I warm up mentally and can climb higher.

One day I almost reached the top, but the panic kicked in. Suddenly, I couldn't move. I told the guy to let me down. He knew me already, so I confidently grabbed the rope, ready to descend, but that day, instead of helping me down, he told me to sit in the harness two stories high and deal with my fear. Are you kidding me?!?

He went even further. He told me to open my fingers, shake my hands, let my arms on the side, lay back a little, and just hang out with my fear. I slowly moved my shaking hands away from the rope and let my arms down beside me.

Then I closed my eyes and tried to breathe slowly while my heart produced some crazy beat, and my mind wanted to convince me I was going to die. The longest five minutes of my life.

That day I became friends with my fear. Not my best buddy, but I don't mind it anymore. I realized; I couldn't win against it, so I learned to let it be. And I want to help you to do the same.

Become comfortable with your fear and don't let it stop you from doing things you want! Believe me, it's the most powerful thing.

Click HERE, to receive eight valuable tools on how to deal with it.