Now that I am back home unpacking my bags and recapping my trip to Los Angeles, I had a "eureka" moment. I realized that I faced one of my biggest fears! For those of you who don't know, I am SEVERELY afraid of heights! I don't like bridges, I don't like balconies, I don't like Ferris wheels, I don't like heights PERIOD!

My boyfriend's sister took us hiking up Runyon Canyon. I had no idea what I was signing myself up for. Going into the hike, I thought it was going to be similar to a bike trail. I expected a lot of walking but I neglected the idea of actual climbing. It started off fairly moderate on a subtle incline. All of a sudden, it got REAL!

I was climbing up and down rocky mountains slipping and sliding every few steps. I was dramatically throwing my belongings to people above me so I could use every available body part for traction. I thought I would literally fall to my death. There were several times where I thought, "You know what? I'm just going to stay here." The only problem is that absolutely NO ONE would come to save me!

Every time I thought we made it to the top of the mountain and we were going back home, I was surprised with a more challenging mountain. Please believe I complained for the ENTIRE hike!

Once we finally made it to the highest point of the mountain, we just stood there soaking in the beautiful scenery. I felt a sense of euphoria. The feeling was so great that I completely forgot about all of the many small steps that it took to get there. All I could think about was my accomplishment. On our hike back to the car I remembered thinking, "Wow, we hiked up THIS way? How the heck did we do that?" I felt so accomplished.

Had I known in the beginning how great the feeling was going to be, I would not have resisted so much.

Lessons learned:

Fear is a liar.
If you do not move forward, you will always be where you are.

Question:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

-Author Unknown

:Kirstin Renee