Exploring the Other Side of Fear

Warning! this article contains some cliche motivational quotes.

Let’s start with the first one,

everything you want is on the other side of fear.

Really think about the quote, let it sink in.
Now, close your eyes, put yourself mentally in that situation and ask yourself

When was the last time you felt fear?
What are you afraid of?
Why are you afraid of it?
And what happens if you pushed through your fears and actually do what you have been imagining in your head?

This set of question has guided me to explore the road less traveled by many. Literally speaking.

How many of you have thought of exploring wilderness, traveling to places that sounded fictitious in your own head that you probably decided it’s one of those places that you will only see through Google.
For me, that mythical place is Mount Everest — the highest peaked mountain in the world.

Last year, I came to ask myself the set of questions as to why wouldn’t I climb Everest and go through a grueling multi-day hike for 3–4 weeks,
What am I afraid of — well, getting lost in the mountains & possibly slipping into my death.

But I realized that it was a preconceived notion of fear, as I don’t really know the basis of that fear, I decided to reach out to the world — the way any millennials in 2018 would; Instagram Story.
I posted “ I need to hike Mount Everest, any reference or connection that would help me will be greatly appreciated”

In a couple of hours, a buddy of mine connected me to someone who went to the Himalayas a couple months back,
The first question I asked him was, what are the chances of me not making it back to Indonesia?
He clarified and convinced me that it was very slim, it was actually a pretty safe travel that involves a grueling hike over 3 weeks.

To cut the story short, with a month of minimal preparation and the right gear, I hiked through the Everest Base Camp on May 2018.

And what was on the other side of my fear lies pure liberating bliss.
I learned that liberating myself from fear created a sustainable source of happiness that I can mentally go to.

Even though the trip was filled with 10-hour grueling hikes, ice cold showers every other day, sleeping on hard wood beds, eating rice and potatoes. In my mind, I just did it — I did something that seemed far-fetched, imaginary, and impossible.

I began regularly asking myself — What have I always thought of, as impossible, that really isn’t so? What am I really afraid of?

However, that was one year ago; as you are reading this you may ask
“What have you done since then?”
Let me start by saying, fear comes in different forms, and many does not involve physical fear. Some may even be in subtle mental barriers in your head stopping you from doing things that you really want to do.

I have always enjoyed writing but I am very self-conscious about putting any of my written work out there,

“What am I afraid of? Why am I afraid of it? What happens if you do it anyway?”

If there is one take away I would like you to note

Get comfortable exploring your fears.

Don’t shame the idea of fear, get comfortable with the psychology of fear and why are you afraid of certain things. Because you might just end up being happier than you could ever imagine!