How Travel Helped Me Face Some Fears

This photo sums my entire year of 2009!

I'll admit it now- I am overcoming a fear of heights. I've just never enjoyed that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when a ride drops suddenly. I also didn't enjoy flying in airplanes. I think I'm a bit of a (recovering) control freak, and I'm sure all of you know that when you're a passenger on a plane, NOTHING is under your control!

So, back to last year. I didn't realize how much I traveled that year until I looked at our pictures from that year. In February, we flew to Chicago to visit a friend. I prayed for days before the flight that we would have a safe trip. I imagined all the things that could happen to us if there was a malfunction on the flight, or if we had to fly through a huge storm and there was just horrible turbulence.....I was so scared! During takeoff, I thought to myself, "Chrystal, you want to see the world...you really have to get over this fear if you're going to live out your dreams!" So, off we went. And guess what? I lived! We had a nice flight there and back.

Later in the year, we took a couple more trips. I flew RT to Orlando, Florida. The picture above was taken when I got on a roller coaster for the first time, at Disney World. It was Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster, in Disney MGM Studios. I decided before our trip that I was going to ride a coaster, just to get it over with. After watching several YouTube videos of the rides at Disney, I chose this one since it was in the dark and started quickly. I asked God to help me have the courage to go, but I almost backed out...

We went to get our FastPass ticket for the ride, and found out that th wait would have been about 3 hours. That was the only ride we really wanted to get on in that park, so I said, "Oh, well, too bad, I guess we can't ride this coaster today." Mind you, it was the last day of our vacation in Florida, so I was inwardly happy to avoid facing this giant coaster. We were walking around the park, when a man came up to us and asked us if we wanted some tickets to a ride, since his family was preparing to leave the park. He handed us the tickets, and guess what- they were for the Rockin Roller Coaster, in 20 MINUTES!!!! I was floored, and looked up to the sky and said, "Well, Lord, you sure do have a sense of humor!!"

So we walked back to the ride and got in line. I was shaking the whole time we waited our turn. The coaster went from 0-60 in a matter of seconds, and this pic above was taken during the initial takeoff. I was terrified and asking myself why in the WORLD did I get on the ride?! You can see my wonderful husband laughing at me as we took off.  I had fun, but I was totally shaking when we got off the coaster.

After that ride and our flight back home, we flew RT to San Juan, Puerto Rico twice over the course of 2009, and I'm still here. I faced my fear head on, and while I'm not sure I'll ride another coaster,  I can't wait to fly to our next destination. I still get the jitters before takeoff, but I've learned to embrace the experience, and appreciate the fact that I am able to travel.