A journey into openness and honesty… Distilling truths about ourselves, others and life from shared experiences… Learning to live consistently with that truth… Becoming free to be who we truly are…

Archive for June, 2024

Life is Short… Don’t Let Fear Stop You Living It

Note to self…

Life is short. I wish I’d realized this when I was young. According to research, one thing people commonly say on their death beds is “I wish I’d taken more risks”. Fear holds us back from so many things!

I want to die with no regrets… a million dreams fulfilled, and millions more remaining.

Taking risks in practice…

Living life to the full takes many forms. For me, one special aspect is bushwalking. Taking what I consider to be reasonable risks (others may differ!) has allowed me to experience so much stunning scenery I could not have seen otherwise.

Some highlights…

– Sitting on cliff edges to soak up spectacular views (in some places watching eagles soar below me). Finding a safe perch where I can dangle my legs over the void is an amazing experience I will never tire of! Cape Hauy in the Tasman National Park is home to one of the most spectacular ocean rock formations I’ve seen. Negotiating my way carefully down the cliff edge to find a perch where I could soak up incredible views of the dolomite cliffs and the “Candlestick” and “Totem Pole” sea stacks was a must!

The Totem Pole (centre) viewed from the ocean.
It is a spectacular slender free-standing dolomite column,
and a favourite for thrill-seeking rock climbers.
The Totem Pole viewed from the Cape Huay lookout. I carefully
made my way down the cliff edge (bottom left) to find a suitable perch…
The view from my perch…
Proof I was there… my boot and my shadow.

– Walking an 11 km bush track at night to watch the sunrise from Mt Feathertop, my favourite mountain. Mt Feathertop, Victoria’s second highest, with its very distinct twin peaks, offers 360 degree views of the Victorian High Plains.

– Climbing Mt Tuvurvar, a recently active volcano in PNG and venturing down into its crater (following a guide). I was hoping to get to the bottom of the crater but decided to turn back part way… the heat became way too stifling. Mt Tuvurvar had erupted just 4 years earlier, throwing massive lava bombs across the landscape and into the nearby ocean.

Recent eruptions of Mt Tuvurvar, PNG (on the right)
have left the surrounding landscape totally barren,
covered with boulders (lava bombs) and volcanic ash…
Standing at the top of the crater after a steep climb. The flanks of Mt Tuvurva are covered with loose, very sharp, volcanic rocks from the most recent eruption. Twice on the climb we had to take action to avoid being hit by rocks dislodged by parties further up.
Climbing down inside the crater involved carefully testing each rock before putting my weight on it. Many were still loose, and the edges were as sharp as broken glass. One slip and you could be very badly cut.

– Climbing down from the top of the Rose River escarpment to a ledge a couple of metres below . This is the only way to get a clear view of Dandongadale Falls plummeting 250 metres into the valley below (the longest single cascade in Victoria). Getting down was easy, but an overhang I couldn’t see from the top meant it was precarious climbing back up! The second time I took a rope with loops in it and anchored it to a big rock.

The Rose River Escarpment is high up in the alpine region above the King Valley, Victoria. A bush path leads to the cliff edge at the top of Dandongadale Falls (left). The only way to view the full 250m cascade is to climb down to a rock outcrop a few metres below the cliff top. If you look very carefully, between the top of the cascade and top of the cliffs, just to the left there is a rock outcrop half-way between. This perch allows you to watch the cascade plummet all the way to the bottom.

– Leaping from rock to rock over a boulder field in Tasmania’s wild southwest to get to the summit of Mt Anne. Being a gazelle was easy in my 20’s. Every leap was confident and without conscious thought. These days I’d have to consider every step very carefully!

– Climbing with a full backpack around a very narrow ledge with a sheer drop into an alpine lake way below the spectacular summit of Mt Lot, Tasmania. The alternative path was longer and posed its own dangers.

Yes, doing these things involved very real risks… Had I fallen, I may no longer be here to tell the tale! But such experiences let you know you’re truly alive! And hey, after 66 years I’m still here with many amazing lifelong memories. All of those considered risks have been well worth it.

The challenge for all of us…

What things in life are you not doing because fear is holding you back? Fear of failure, or what other may people think, or getting out of our comfort zone so often paralyzes us. Procrastination, avoidance, or never turning our great intentions into actual plans, can be fear in another guise.

Again, life is short. And it may be shorter than you think! We never know what unexpected events or health issues may be ahead of us.

We are all capable of doing SO MUCH MORE, in many areas of life, IF ONLY WE TAKE THE COURAGE TO TRY! And if some things don’t work out, they are not actually mistakes or failures, they are simply guideposts and lessons for the rest of our journey.

© Ian W. James 23/06/2024

Category:

Living Life to the Full, Uncategorized, Wholehearted Living

Tagged with: