Fear and How I Overcame It

Fear - And How I Overcame It

This is a story I wrote for school, practising writing about a tense moment. This is not about me or something that happened to me!

I was the first one to bring it up. Of course I was. I am always the first to think of all the crazy adventures we could do… and the first to back out of them. The trouble is, I just can’t face my fear – everywhere I turn, it is there. Whatever I want is always on the other side of fear and I can’t get past it.

I am a dreamer. I dream of the things I could achieve and the things I could do in life. But like I said, fear stops me. It is paralysing and weakening. I really wanted to do something about it, but the irony is, I was scared to.

That is, at least, until one day when I suggested we go sky diving. I was with my friends in Dubai over half term. I had enjoyed a restful and relaxing weekend, eating ice-cream, swimming and hanging out. Then my friends were talking about how they wanted to do something really exciting, something they had never done before. I had always wanted to go skydiving; I heard it was as if time stopped and you saw everything from a new perspective. I heard my timid voice say ‘Maybe we could go skydiving?’. The room exploded. Everyone thought it was a great idea; excitement rushing around the room. But inside, behind my grin, a chill of dread trickled up my spine. What had I just said? I wouldn’t be able to chicken out on this one. After all, I was the one who had suggested it.

When the day came, I woke up with sweat running in rivers down my face. I had dreamed of my parachute not coming out, of me tumbling - helpless - through the sky. I was terrified, to put it mildly. I couldn’t eat my breakfast; I could barely think straight. My friends knew me well enough to leave me alone. When I got onto that plane, that tube of metal somehow able to stay in the air, I realised there was no turning back. This was it. I just had to enjoy it, but was that even possible? Do fear and joy go together? My mind was a whirlwind as we took off – I felt that my head with filled with dense smoke, not allowing me to think properly. My hands shook, and visibly, too.

“You alright?” The skydiver behind me asked.

“Yeah”, I lied.

The lights on the side of the plane went from red to amber. My heart stopped – my chest felt like it would explode with fear. All the possibilities of things that could go wrong were swirling around in a confused mass within my head. All too soon, the green light flashed at me and the door to the aeroplane opened. With a grating metal-on-metal sound, a sharp rush of cold air and the sight of the sprawling city below, it was time to face my fear. My toes edged to the end of the plane. I went as slowly as I could, savouring the last moments of life (or so I thought). Behind me, my friends were cheering me on. Willing me on, to face my fears. Then all sense of hearing left me – I was in my own quiet world, with nothing but my hammering heart to think about. I took three deep breaths and lunged. I wasn’t even aware of jumping off the plane. It was like my body recognised the fear and autopilot kicked in. My body was ready, even when my mind was not. But even as I was thinking these things, I noticed a weight lift off my chest. I inched my eyes open, looking around. It was then that I felt an exhilarating thrill of excitement. Mingled with fear. Yes, I could have joy and fear at the same time! That was what made everything feel so alive, so full and exciting!

My arms spread out, fingers outstretched, my body soaking up the beautiful sunlight and cold air. It felt as if I was flying – time stopped and I knew this would be the best thing I would do in my life. I whooped in delight as I tugged on the parachute cord. I was jerked upward, my body feeble as a doll and yet enjoying every second of it.

As I landed on the ground, my feet welcomed the feel of land beneath me and yet, at the same time, also wanting to be back in the air. I had overcome my fear. I got past the seemingly unscalable wall that had stopped me from achieving my dreams. And now, with my fear out of the way, what would I do next?