EARTH TO THE WOODS

It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, or what your dreams are, we all live with the emotion of fear. Sometimes we get to choose if we want to face it or not, and sometimes we’re forced to get up close and personal with it.

My fear challenge this summer was to install a Starlink satellite dish on the roof of a rental cabin. Heights aren’t a problem for me, but the slope of this particular roof was steeper than any other I’d scaled. The shingles were a curvy clay style, which made my usually stable soles shaky. I kept my body close to that roof as I climbed to the peak for the first time to check out the project. 

Practice

I had done things in the air before this - a Starlink installation on the roof of an office building, roof shingling, and camper roof repairs. I didn’t wake up on this day and say, 'I’m gonna start my roof work at the top.'

Make a Plan

Luckily there was an old TV antennae coming out of the roof that could be used to seat the Starlink into. It just meant the antennae portion of the pipe would have to be cut off to free up the pipe for Starlink insertion. 

Equipped with a plan, I scaled back down the roof with a little more freedom than I climbed it, found the top step of the ladder with my shaky boot, and climbed back down to the ground to get the pipe cutters. 

Take Your Time

I took a lot of extra steps to get to those pipe cutters. I needed the time to walk off the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I gave myself a pep talk, climbed the ladder, and up to the peak of the roof a second time. I saw something I missed - there was a cable running down the side of the pipe that would need to be cut. 

Know When to Ask for Help

At this point I was terrified. I didn't want to climb down to get another tool because I didn't know if I'd return. So instead of climbing down to get what I needed, I shouted down to the guest:

“Can you get a knife or a pair of scissors out of the cabin and pass it up to me?”

“What?!?!?” He yelled back up to me. 

“There’s a cable up here I need to cut, can you get me a knife or a scissors?” I shouted. 

He went inside, and came back out with a knife. 

“Do you know what that cable goes to?” A second guest in a nearby site shouted up to me. 

“Yes, the TV in the cabin” I yelled back to him.

He came over and handed his utility knife up. I relaxed a little, surprised these 2 other people trusted me to do this. 

Do The Thing

I cut the pipe a quarter turn at a time, knowing it would be best if the top-heavy antennae fell to the ground. There was the possibility it could fall on me. I prepared for that to happen as I slowly, but firmly, turned those pipe cutters a quarter turn at a time.

When I could see the pipe was almost severed, it fell to the ground before I could do anything.

My heart was racing. My arms and legs were shaking. And I was more balanced than I had ever been in my life. The Starlink dish was easy to slide into the pipe after the TV antennae tumbled.

I carried the confidence and balance from that job with me for days.

Life asks us to treat the symptom of fear with great care so we don’t get hurt, and great confidence so we find meaning and value. It’s a muscle we build by believing in ourselves every minute of every day, until eventually, we can do the thing without the fear.