Do It Anyway

A phrase I've been thinking about a lot recently.

Do it anyway.

If I had to pin down one thing that has helped me the very most in my efforts to help and "control" my anxiety, it would be the mindset and action of "doing it anyway."

Does something scare the heck out of ya? Do it anyway.

You wanna go for a super cool opportunity that seems unreasonable and risky and you aren't sure what will happen? Do it anyway.

Do you love someone and are scared to tell them? Do it anyway.

Do you have ideas and plans but aren't sure how to execute them? Do it anyway. Just start.

Do you want to start over and reimagine who you are but aren't sure what everyone will think? Do it anyway.

It has been the best remedy for my anxious mind because it forces me to prove myself wrong. While also single-handedly giving me so much confidence and love for myself and what I can do.

Have there been times when I'm scared about something and it goes exactly as I had thought it through a hundred times over?

Yes. Occasionally.

But usually, it's still never as bad as I thought it was going to be. And usually, thankfully, I'm wrong.

I've tried this out for years but my mission really taught me how to lean in head first and do everything that scared me, anyway.

I find a lot of fulfillment in it. I find joy and meaning in doing everything I want to do no matter how outlandish it might be.

There are a lot of things my mind likes to tell me I'm not capable of.

When I started testing my limits and doing things any way I found out there are actually a lot of things I am capable of.

Way more than my brain would've ever let myself believe.

Turns out I'm a complete bad*ss and for about 19 years I had no clue.

Do yourself a favor if you're in the pit of doubt, or if you're in the pain cave (a saying I just heard that made me giggle), and DO all those things you want to do, anyway.

I was at an event where the speaker was telling us about his experience of running low to high which started at Badwater Basin in Death Valley, the lowest point in North America, all the way to Mt Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states. This was about 135 miles in total and his goal was to do it in about 75 hours. Crazy.

He talked to us about 13 different life lessons he learned from that experience and the thing that stood out to me the most is how much emphasis he put on the danger of comfort.

People's need and want to be comfortable is so strong that anything uncomfortable is immediately discredited, discarded, or avoided.

That. Is. Dangerous.

Nothing amazing comes out of comfort.

Get uncomfortable.

And do it anyway.

The saying "you are the author of your own story" is cheesy... but true.

I decide what I'm actually capable of.

I decide who I want to be.

Heavenly Father didn't give us the spirit of fear. He also didn't intend for us to be idle.

He intended for us to live. Even through all our challenges.

Make the time to live. Make time to do things that may scare you but that you want to pursue.

Now feels like the perfect opportunity to announce that I got the permit and will be starting the Pacific Crest Trail in April 2024.

Just kidding, that was for you dad 🫶🏽 heheheh. I know you're rolling your eyes rn.

(One day that's going to be real though.)