Over the past 2 weeks I have ridden my bike to and from work on several days. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time but always came up with some dumb excuse not to do it or was just too afraid in general. I'm not really sure what I did to get over these mental hurdles, but I just decided to go for it and see what happened. So what happened? I brought my bike and a change of cloths to work last Tuesday. After work I changed, got on my bike, and went home. Uneventful. I was nervous as all get out, but for no particular reason. The act of riding my bike wasn't new. The environment wasn't particularly different, I've been ridding in traffic a lot recently. It was the idea that I was performing an activity that was labeled as something I've never done before and in a somewhat new environment that fed my fear. I feel that I get that way a lot. I put things in a mental box and build that box so large that it seems impossible to open. The things inside this "box" are unchanged, just opening (doing) them are difficult because of how I perceive them. I know there are many other things in which I have this barrier with, so I'm trying to identify those things that I'm not doing because of an unfounded fear, or otherwise general anxiety and try to overcome that. Identifying those things might be tough though. Of course, this is fueled by the fact that I felt absolutely great when I got home for the first time.
-Brian
