When Fear Turns Funny
“Fear is a wonderful teacher but a terrible CEO.”
— Jon Acuff, The Chase Jarvis LIVE Show
We were 9 hours into our day at Animal Kingdom and everyone was running on fumes. Most of the day was spent doing everything that we could to make my daughter’s experience at the park a magical and memorable time. As our day was winding down, our friend Lisa spoke up and said that she wanted to check out the Kali River Rapids ride before we wrapped up. We all agreed and made the trek from the opposite side of the park.
When we got to the attraction we were surprised to learn that the wait time was 60 minutes and there were warning signs that the ride was fast moving and contained big drops. It was labeled as a thrill ride and the demeanor of our group changed immediately. My daughter isn’t a big fan of “thrill rides” and we watched her go from enthusiastic to terrified.
We all stood around for a few minutes trying to rationalize with my daughter about how we thought she was capable of doing the ride and how much fun it would be. We reminded her of all the hard and scary things she had done in the past and explained how this would be another awesome experience she could look back on. Patience in the group was beginning to wear thin as we were sweating it out in the Florida heat, feeling like this was a lost cause. Suddenly my daughter’s face changed from scared to determined. She looked up at me and said, “You know what? Let’s do this!” We fist-bumped, I shouted with excitement and pride, and we joined the line.
A 60-minute line does a lot to an anxious human psyche, and she second-guessed her decision for almost all of those minutes. But, the choice was made, and eventually, we all found ourselves seated on the raft, buckling our seatbelts and getting ready for what was ahead. I was nervous for her, but so happy to see her sitting across from me.
The ride began, and we made our way up a big ramp, expecting that there’d be a big drop on the other side. There wasn’t. We splashed around for a few minutes, slowly bumping off of walls, and floating down the well-defined current. Then, we saw the drop ahead, and everyone braced themselves, but it wasn’t exactly that thrilling of a drop. We went around another bend, and there was the platform where the ride ended. 60 minutes of fear and anxiety ultimately came to an end in what felt like 2 minutes. We all looked at each other, and there was a unanimous, “That’s it?” We got off the ride and spent the next 10 minutes laughing at our disappointment and congratulating my daughter on facing her fear.
Most fears in life are like that. We build things up to be far more difficult or scarier than they really are, and sometimes we let the fear cripple us and stop us from taking action. When we do this, we rob ourselves of experience and limit our lives in the process. Sometimes, all we need is a little support, some encouragement, and the gall to face the unknown despite what stories are playing out in our heads. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that we can do and have done hard things, and we’ve come out on the other side as braver and bolder people.
