I went cross-country skiing today, with the sleet coming down. I thought about fear and what causes it. We live on a hill, and so the top and bottom part of the circular trail are relatively flat, but going up and down on either side is a bit steep and windy, and the trail is surrounded by woods. I've never been able to ski down these downhills without imagining my body going splat against a tree, and so the fear has always kept me either inching down little by little or taking my skiis off and walking down.
Today for some reason the fear which has plagued me disappeared. I found myself zipping down the trail. I even almost hit John, but snowplowed to a controlled stop. I was very pleased at this new experience, and pleased at the thought that the world is NEVER black and white. There are NEVER absolutes. Just as my fear of doing this hill was something that I thought was permanently etched in my mind and my body, so the thoughts that so often cross my mind when I'm doing yoga that a pose can never ever be attained seem to be absolute fact. And yet my body proves over and over that these "absolute facts" are really fantasy stories that my mind has made up.
It gives me pause to wonder.... what other fantasy stories has my mind created about my life or the world I live in?
