We Are Not Afraid of Swimming, We Are Afraid of Drowning

We Are Not Afraid of Swimming, We Are Afraid of Drowning
(Written by Ashley Horner, http://ashleyhorner.co/we-are-not-afraid-of-swimming-we-are-afraid-of-drowning/)

Photo taken from contest.bodybuilding.com of Ashley Horner

It’s real and it lives in many of us. The fear of not reaching a goal that we’ve set. Its the thought of failure & the mental mind set we allow to creep into our heads… ‘What if I make a fool out of myself and fall completely on my face.’ So many times this little four letter word plays such a huge impact on us reaching our goals or even setting them. Have you heard that saying do something every day that scares you? When you look at fear straight in the eyes and know that you will defeat it, you continue to take yourself to a completely different level. You will allow your brain to mentally push past that comfort zone and realize just how much you’re truly capable of.

You are always going to have people who do not support you, or have little interest is what you’re doing. Regardless of how close these people are to you in your life you can NOT let if effect the things that you enjoy doing. Who gives a damn about the nah sayers, the self- doubters & know it alls- they are the true idiots, the ones who belittle, poke, or make fun of us who are trying to pursue a dream, because they are afraid of a risk of taking a chance and they live in fear.

Just because you hit a hole, does not mean you fell off the cliff you must come back swinging. Like a lesson my mom taught me when I was a little girl. There were times I would be riding my horse and get knocked off, hitting the ground with a thud. She always made me get back on and keep riding right away because she knew the longer she allowed me to set on the ground the more time I was allowing fear set in.

Ashley Horner, taken from ashleyhorner.co

Your goals- journey- destination- whatever it is should really have NO end. There is no finish line to this lifestyle, we choose to take the path that is a little more difficult and at many times you will find yourself going against traffic, but your destination will be much greater. Everyday I wake up with a desire to make this day better than the last, at night I go to bed feeling a since of accomplishment and a desire to make tomorrow even better than it was today. You will without a doubt have to push outside of your comfort zone and past your fears, but begin today molding your mind proving to yourself that you’re capable beyond anything anyone ever thought you were.

Yes I am so blessed to be where I am right now, I feel like I have accomplished a lot, and I’ve just begun. In my career, I now represent the best fitness community in the industry (bodybuilding.com) To have the opportunity to write for some pretty awesome magazines, including MMA UNCAGED & and being featured internationally as a fitness model who   is standing for something YES YES YES!! Of course I get scared. I get scared shitless anytime a new opportunity evolves for me. You think the first time I submitted my article to MMA UNCAGED for my column I wasn’t nervous? Or the first time I met the entire family from bodybuilding.com? HA!! I didn’t sleep for days leading up to that event. Even as a well-seasoned figure competitor stepping on stage to compete STILL to this day I have shaking spirit fingers back stage. I have my fears, we all do but the more you do things that cause you to have fear or make you uncomfortable the easier it is for you to push it aside a learn its not a big deal. Find the things you want in life and go after them. In 10 years from now what will you regret that you didn’t do today?

No one is afraid of heights, we are just afraid of falling.
No one is scared to swim, we fear we might drown.

No one is afraid of success, we only allow doubt to make us believe that we might fail.