Courage faces fear and thereby masters it. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

An interesting fact I learned while watching a TED talk given by Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, is that stress has health benefits that may actually “create a biology of courage.” It was such a novel idea when I first heard it. Apparently, having our heart race now-and-again increases blood flow to the brain and heightens our awareness and responsiveness. This thought ran through my mind as my heart pounded in my ears while I prepared to pilot Mystic Dancer, a 63,000 pound boat, sixteen feet wide and fifty-three feet long through a curving break-water into the marina at Port Sydney. The other thought running through my mind was “Go slow, save the mo (money),” a clever boating slogan I picked up from my travels along the waterways of the Northwest. The catch to stress contributing to courage is to believe we are up to the challenge at hand and that the nervous tension we feel is our body’s way of preparing us for action.

For some, mooring a boat is second nature, but for me it was a nerve-wracking experience and I still need a lot of practice. It’s quite humbling to attempt docking a boat with an audience on shore watching every miss-step and I was often tempted to save face and let my very skilled husband take the helm. But, I promised myself to be courageous and say yes to every opportunity that presented itself to practice this new skill even if I felt nervous, or ill equipped, or I might embarrass myself. How else would I learn? More importantly, I didn’t want to let my fear limit my choices or dictate my life. Like the story of The Little Engine that Could, somewhere deep inside I knew I could too – that if I kept showing up and trying, someday it would all click into place and suddenly I’d be a confident motor-yacht handler. The key was to not let my fear get the better of me and to remember that my churning stomach was just my body’s way of saying, “I’m ready, let’s do this!” I have not yet arrived at this hoped-for proficiency, but the shear delight in successfully docking at the Sydney Marina has encouraged me to keep trying, to accept the uncomfortable nature of learning something new, and to not be afraid to face my fears.

Question: What fears are holding you back today?