I Went Parasailing & I Didn’t Die. Three Things I Learned from Conquering My Fear

I won’t necessarily consider myself the adventurous type when it comes to outdoor activities. As I get older I am a bit more open to trying new things, but I don’t go out of my way to seek out these types of adventures. My husband, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He is the, “ooh we should try this” kinda guy.

That’s exactly how I ended up in the middle of the ocean attached to a parachute while being pulled by a speedboat AKA parasailing, during our most recent vacation.

Since I’m here to tell you about, I’m happy to report that I went parasailing and I didn’t die. *insert dramatic exhale*. Not only did I not die, but I also learned, well I didn’t actually learn them, let say these things were reinforced for me, as I conquered yet another fear. Initially, I made up all types of excuses about why I didn’t want to go parasailing.

“I can’t swim very well”
“The waves are too choppy” (which they were)
“What if my straps come loose and I fall into the ocean?”
“I’m scared to ride on that little banana boat” (Our ride to the speed boat). This one was a total excuse since I had conquered that fear the last time I was in Grenada.
“I don’t want to die” (Insert more drama here)

After about a 30-minute pep talk from my husband (which included me saying I wanted to get over my fear, but I didn’t want to do it on that particular day) I gave in. As we waited our turn, I thought, “Lord, what did I get myself into?”
At this point there was no turning back, and I’m happy to report that I’m really glad I went through with it.

Here’s why.

1)It’s never as bad as you think it will be. 

As we were raised higher and higher over the ocean, the first words out of my mouth were, “I can’t believe I’m doing this“. This was quickly followed by, “ok, it’s not as bad as I thought“, and the truth is that it wasn’t bad at all. It was a very exhilarating feeling. Once I allowed myself to relax and enjoy the moment it was amazing. I recall feeling the same way when I made my first YouTube video, launched Ven & Rose, spoke at my first event. The knots in my stomach were crazy, but once I got used to it/things settled down the outcome was much better than I expected.

READ ALSO: My Fear of Failing

2) If you never do it, you will ALWAYS be afraid. 

I kept saying I wanted to do it, yet I wanted to put if off. Fear will cause you do that. If I never made the decision to act, I would always have those same fears. Basically, the only way to get over the fear is to do the thing you’re afraid to do. Putting it off won’t change anything because you will always be afraid.

3) You’re not really afraid of what you think you’re afraid of

As I tried to explain all the reasons why I didn’t want to go parasailing, my husband asked, “what are you REALLY afraid of ?”

Huh? What did he mean? I just listed all the reasons I didn’t want to/couldn’t go.

As I tried to reiterate he said, “you afraid of feeling scared, that’s what you’re afraid of“.

I paused and shook my head. In this case, he was right. I HATE that feeling of feeling scared. After considering each of the reasons I listed and the possible outcome, I realised that I was just making excuses, because the bottom line, is I didn’t want to feel scared. It’s ironic that the same feeling that some people crave is the one that I don’t care for. I am not an adrenaline junkie and I don’t think I’ll ever be one, but it felt good to conquer my fear and add parasailing to the list of “adventurous” things I have done.

YOUR TURN: Have you ever gone parasailing? If not, would you do it?