Do One Thing a Day That Scares You

~ Title quote by Lululemon



I am not sure I know what I am doing – or how I am going to do it. Quite frankly, I’m a little bit scared. I know that in doing Te Araroa Trail, I finished it thinking and truly believing that I could do absolutely anything that I put my mind to. But now – well now – I am just not so sure. Seems crazy really, but it’s true. I mean, really – what HAVE I gotten myself into?

Really, if I were to dig down deep inside, I would find that as scared as I am with everything going on, I want oh-so-much more. This feeling is incredibly addicting and exhilarating. It’s freeing. It’s knowing that I’m flying high and pushing myself to do what I always wanted to but never really had the guts to do it. Apparently Hanmer Springs is where I’m going to dive in – that’s right – no sense in jumping in with both feet – I’m diving in head first.

This past week, it’s really begun to sink in just what I have signed up to do here in Hanmer Springs. My life has become one of lifestyle – not just any longer about the drag of work every day to get the money to spend the money to go back and make the money again. My life has become so much more. Above my regular job at St. James doing housekeeping, I have started writing articles for a website called Green Joyment. It’s all about becoming eco-friendly in everything we do and it’s crazy to think that I actually got my first article through this past week.

I also have just recently been in touch with Lululemon and I have been approved to get my photographs showcased in the new store opening up in Queenstown the next couple of months. Scared? You bet. As well as excited and completely intimidated. My art won’t just be shown – it will also be for sale as well. Talk about putting myself out there – I can’t wait!

But that’s just the beginning – I recently got the script for the upcoming pantomime production of Robin Hood here in Hanmer Springs. Auditions over with and roles given out – I got a part. Not just any role though – I’m to be Robin Hood himself. I wish I could say that I’ve had a heap of experience in theatre production, but I really haven’t (let alone the fact that my singing voice is nothing amazing) – even still, I’m super stoked to be a part of this as this play will be a big laugh and so much fun to do (even if I’m on the verge of wetting my pants from fear of screwing up).

And so with all this fear inside building up and nowhere to direct my newfound nervous energy – I’ve decided to add another thing to my list of things to try on. I’ve decided to sign up for the local half marathon race set to occur for May 7, 2011. I’ve only ever run a 10km run once. And even then I walked for part of it as I wasn’t in the head space to run the full thing. But here I am after doing Te Araroa Trail and I know that my fitness level is still quite high (and I hope to keep it that way) where I am able to run for an hour every morning without any trouble – 10km is an average distance I’m putting in. There’s not really any reason I shouldn’t be able to push for a half marathon (21km). It’s just the mental block of knowing I have never actually done such a run before in my life that makes me hesitant and completely unsure of myself.

Thinking about all of this makes me wonder why I’m doing it all. Not that I want to back out of all of it – but out of my entire life, this would be one of the few moments of which I have jumped at the chance to try so many different things all at once – most of which scare me to pieces simply because I have never done them before. They’re all things of which other people out there in the world will see me do. See me succeed or fail. And that’s a bloody scary thought. It’s not like the odd time I’ve gotten a new shirt and tried it out around the house to see how I like it first. It’s me getting paid to write my opinions on eco-friendly solutions online for the world to read. It’s me printing my photographs for others to see and decide if they like them enough to purchase them. It’s me deciding to put myself out there and say that “yes” I’ve walked the length of the country, but let’s see if I can run 21km. If I can’t do that – what does it make me? Does it make me any less of a person if I fail at something I never had tried before?

Lululemon has many quotes they frequently put forth for others to be inspired on how to lead a “longer, healthier and more fun” life. One of which challenges everyone to “do one thing a day that scares you.” I have decided that for the next four months of my stay in New Zealand, in Hanmer Springs, that I will take on each one of the countless quotes of Lululemon and try them out. It’s time to stop simply reading them everywhere I go – it’s time to put them into practice. So, with that in mind, my new adventure for life is the adventure of life. People always comment that the grass appears greener on the other side, but I’m determined to appreciate the fact that the grass is pretty green right where I’m at.

Adventures do not necessarily have to be doing rare death-defying excursions that are blatantly different than anything the average person dreams up. Adventures are simply doing something above the line of mediocrity. So, yes, my new adventure may not include a lengthy time span of living in the wild or even in a tent. It might not include major river crossings or wondering how long my one pair of shorts will last. It may not even be about incredible mountain climbs or scaling rocks with a heavy pack strapped to my back. It might not mean fighting my way through Gorse or Bush Lawyer, but an adventure it still will be. Each week I will take on the challenge of one of Lululemon’s principle quotes and test them out – heaven knows where it will take me and, going with the theme of this past week, it scares me a bit. Much like the movie “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey, I will say “yes” and dive in. Life is what you make it and I want to live it with intention. After all, as Whoopie Goldberg once said, “Normal is just a cycle on a washing machine.”