Fear could be habit forming if we don’t transition through our emotions.

https://lindajwolff.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Spoken-Word-How-Can-I-Say-No-to-the-Unknown-Revised.mp3

How Can I Say No to Something I Have Not Tried

I remember my first time.
My first time to encounter the unknown,
when he asked me if I wanted to
walk with the shadows and hike
up a mountain to nowhere.

I was apprehensive, and muttered a
sheepish, yes, but fear gripped the
inside of my chest cavity saying no
you can’t. My breath tightened.

My mind raced with all the what if’s,
over and over. Yet, now I’m obligated.
My pride wouldn’t let me back out,
not now. My curiosity a child seeking
an unforgettable adventure.

July 4th, 2001, I’ll never forget.
A ten hour road trip with him
and my world opened to an experience
that l could never erase from the
inside of my soul.

We put a backpack together with
life, and survival skills, food and water.
Forty pounds of weight in a backpack can
make one lose their balance if they don’t know
how perspectives work with weight portions.

And a one and half foot wide path
up a mountainside could mess with
one’s mindset.

First, I had to learn to gathering my
bearings, elevations, shadows,
and sunlight. Each step changed with
the next, step over a dead tree that is
as longer than the length of your leg. Nope.

Slide over it or walk the full length of
it, one mile upwards and my body
was feeling things.

Breaths were like balloons losing air.

This is the time to sit for a moment
and drink in your surroundings, I’m
breathless and in awe of what my eyes
are seeing, I could feel the
beauty saturate every ounce of
my being, several sips of water
and I’m sitting amongst the clouds.

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Linda J Wolff: Life coach, author, and motivational speaker has a newly released book “Introspective “.