by Austin

February 18, 2011

February 17th, 2011



Distance Since last Update: 78 miles.
Total Distance for Tour: approx. 1143 miles
LOCATION: Tallasse, AL
STATUS: I finished another 50+ mile skate on Tuesday (51 to be exact). That was from just north of Lagrange, GA to Auburn, AL. I skated 27 today, and I’m Approaching Montgomery, AL now.

Jumping out of Planes

I used to enjoy giving a speech back in the day that I called “Is That Fear or Excitement?” In that speech, I explained to audience members that the physical and chemical events in the body are almost exactly the same when we are excited as when we are afraid. I used the examples of skydiving and stealing a first kiss with a new flame to show how it is easy to feel both fear and excitement at the same time. The whole point was to compel people to take the necessary risks to reach goals and live exciting and interesting lives.


I still like that speech and the basic concept, because it ultimately relates back to self-confidence. We can grow our self-confidence, and our potential to do big things, by playing this little “fear or excitement” game and pushing ourselves to get outside of our comfort-zones.


I’ve been giving this some thought, and I’m realizing now that my “fear or excitement speech” stopped short of the more important message in regard to self-confidence. I was on to something, but I didn’t have the life-experience at the time to see the more important part. I’ll call that part “long-suffering confidence,” or simply, “faith.” You see, it takes courage in the moment to jump out of a plane, steal a kiss, or choose to skate across America :-), but it takes a little more depth to see something through to its conclusion after the excitement has worn off, especially if it is consistently difficult along the way.


Whether you are at the jumping point in your own life or if you’ve already made the jump and now need the confidence and courage to continue, recognize that your emotions in the moment cannot always be trusted. This is especially the case if you’re doing something very difficult. It takes more than simple bravado to create something of lasting meaning and courage. It takes a faith that what you envision can become a reality, even if you’re the only one who can see it right now. While we sometimes quit something because we’ve learned this or that which makes it logical to quit, we often quit simply because we didn’t have the faith to fight through the painful moment. In those cases, consider this: Your emotions can rarely be trusted in the moment, and the farsighted are the ones who create the future.

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About the author 

Austin

From a 3412 mile inline skate across America for Freedom to a pilgrimage halfway around the world, speaker and life coach, Austin Szelkowski has lived an intrepid spiritual journey. Over the last 11 years, he has skated across a continent, built 3 successful businesses, been enlightened by a mind-bending spiritual awakening, and endured a terrifying dark night of the soul journey in 2017. His story brings courage in the darkest places – providing a sense of spiritual adventure and hope.

  • Great thought Austin.
    I did some thinking of my own today, and the conclusion I came to is to ask myself in each situation, “Is the feeling I’m having from what I’m doing / not doing, in line with my higher purpose. It is the question I will ask to get myself to the place I need to be to fulfill my higher purpose.
    Congratulations to you for being in line with fulfilling yours.
    Misty

    • I liked this comment, Misty. I especially liked what you said about staying in line with your higher purpose. From my perspective, that is something we must choose for ourselves.

      – Austin

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