Last weekend I did something very out of my comfort zone. I spent four days at a country music festival. It was not something I would have chosen yet I did it anyway. My good friend was getting married on stage Saturday night.
She is dear to my heart, so much I made her wedding dress – I only do this for special people). I wasn’t going to go; there aren’t many places to stay nearby, and the one motel was fully booked. So I had decided that I would not be there.
Never thought about it
The morning we met to go fabric shopping we started with breakfast. We were discussing the upcoming wedding, and she told me that they had booked a group campsite and lots of people were coming with tents and trailers. I must have said something about having a camping trailer and then she asked me why I was not coming and camping.
“I don’t drive the trailer,” I answered.
“Why?” She asked, looking at me.
The only answer I had was, “the ex drove the trailer,” and he did. He was always the driver; he did the hook up and drove us to all the fabulous places we camped.
“You can drive the trailer,” she said. This kind of shocked me. I never really thought about it before this point. We went off and bought the material for her dress, and by the time we were done, I told her that yes, I would be coming to the wedding with the trailer. That night I bought my ticket.
The idea is worse than the actual action
I love the trailer. I have always wanted to vintage it up, and now I am going to do it. The ex brought it back to my house, and I got it ready to go (though not yet vintaged). The weekend before I left, he gave me lessons on what I needed to know, I have seen it done many times, and it helped, but this time, it was just going to be me. I even made some videos. Then he took me driving with the trailer hooked up.
I tell my 14-year-old son, who has a fair bit of fear about doing new things, that the idea of it is usually way worse than the actual action. We drove to a big parking lot and then I got in the driver’s seat. I was terrified, yet I was going to do it anyway. I drove around the parking lot and then even practiced backing up (this is a work in progress) and drove home. On the way, I did three roundabouts to practice. Guess what – it was so much better than I could have imagined.
Terrified, nervous but DOING IT!
The day came, I hooked up – the ex came by to lend a hand if needed, but I didn’t need it!! I got in the car and drove away. I even went on the ferry with it. I did get some help backing into the stop when we got to our destination, yet overall I DID IT! OMG, I DID IT.
On the way home, I hooked it up by myself (I had offers of help yet I really wanted to do it myself) and then took a ferry back. I had one whoops when I dropped off my friend; I didn’t latch the door property and, as I was getting on the highway, the door came open – thank god for big mirrors! I didn’t panic, I just pulled over and shut it.
I still have to practice backing up, I have not attempted to back up the driveway yet, but that is to come.
I was scared, I was nervous, it was something very new, and totally out of my comfort zone yet I did it anyway. I am so proud of myself, and I rock!!
Not letting fear stop me
Since the ex moved out, I am doing lots of new things that I didn’t do before. I could do them yet never needed to, now I am working on doing more things that push me out of my comfort zone, and I love it. There is a story about the whipper snipper (weed Wacker for those not from the east coast) to come.
Don’t let fear stop you, do for a moment think you cannot do it, you may need some assistance to get there like I did
Whether it is about starting a new business, getting out of toxic relationship or driving your trailer; girl – you got this, and you can do anything you set your mind too! Contact me here to continue the conversation rolling.