One Scary Thing Every Day.....

One Scary Thing Every Day.....

I mentioned in a previous post 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway' that along with the book recommendation, a very lovely woman named Hilary suggested that I do one scary thing every day as a confidence building exercise. Within reason of course - she wasn't suggesting I go for a bungee jump or a skydive every day, but take a few more risks to bring me out of my comfort zone and out of my shell a little bit more. Also, perhaps the most important - make decisions without panicking!

I've been doing this in fits and starts over the past few months. Some of the 'scary' things I've done have been simple, like actually saying no to something I don't want to do and not worrying that the universe will implode because I didn't say yes, ordering something I've never had before at a restaurant, the other week I fried an egg unsupervised (Yes I am a grown woman and 25 years old, but I'm also useless in the kitchen).

Other scary things have been a little bit bigger and today's scary thing was beginning driving lessons again.

I started driving lessons initially a few years ago and didn't properly get the hang of it, struggled with nerves, was easily spooked and when I got a full time job in the city centre (next to a train station), I gave up.

Not being able to drive has become something of a pain over the last few months and I decided (check me out, making a decision!) to try again with a new start, new company and new instructor. If I'm going to learn something from scratch again, I may as well go the whole hog and give myself a clean slate.

I had my first lesson today and it wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be, most of the lesson was spent putting me at ease and reminding me of the basics and for the last section of the lesson, I did a little bit of driving. It was a little daunting but not the most terrifying thing in the world. I got a little panicky when a few impatient drivers were champing at the bit to get past me as I slowed their journey down by a few seconds, but other than that, I survived it and actually came away thinking 'Wow, I did that!'

My next scary thing might not be as big as today, but I'll be a little less scared to tackle it - whatever it is! :-)

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