Facing fears

This past week I did a lot of facing my fears. I would not say I over came them, but I did walk bravely up to them vomit on their shoes and look them dead in the eye and say hey I'm afraid and that is okay. I was blessed by my dear friends with a camping trip. I am more grateful than words can express to them for this. A mere thank you doesn't seem to be sufficient to express my heart felt gratitude. While I use the term friends it doesn't encompass the depth of feeling that I have for them. They are more than friends, they are my family by choice. They gave me a chance to expand on my horizons and experience things that were completely out of my comfort zone. Something that isn't common knowledge is that I suffer from Generalized anxiety disorder and agoraphobia. This trip tested them both to the max. Being away from home stresses me out to the max and this time I was almost 500 miles away from home. It ended up that I drove all of those miles there and back without an adult accompaniment. I was proud that I only threw up once. I dreaded going even though this was a fun trip. I push myself to do these things because it terrifies me. It's a part of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. These are things that most people can accomplish. I can too, albeit the vomiting isn't suave, but I did it and I'm proud. (Thank god for public restrooms. North Bay will never be the same.) I also faced my fear of bears. Thank God we had decided to leave early as a troop of bears had sauntered into the camp ground that day. Facing fears is one thing, putting your safety at risk is completely different. So my advice to you, if you are afraid do it anyhow. Sometimes you will be amazed by the results.