Face Your Fears

Today, some friends and I went to the parkway and hiked up Rough Ridge - a 2.6 mile round trip (mostly uphill) to see some of God's beautiful creations. This time of year is truly one of the most breathtaking and gorgeous times especially in the mountains of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The parkway has found a very special place in my heart. My grandparents used to live in Fancy Gap, Virginia and I believe they lived there most of my life up until the time my Grandpa had a heart attack and they decided to move to Tennessee with some of my family for health safety reasons. 

Anywho, a few weeks ago we had a speaker come to the photography department who had won about five awards in this year's Banff Film Festival.  Unfortunately, we were not able to view his film, but we did get to hear him speak about his experience creating the film.  This was an incredibly eye-opening experience for me personally.  A lot of it was about chasing what scares you because there you will find truth, love, beauty, happiness, contentment, and a lot of other things. 

I believe God sent him to my school to speak these things for a reason - I needed to hear it.  I needed to be told that I should not be afraid of anything.  I shouldn't be afraid of the unknown future or being alone or a more worldly thing such as heights.  So today I was presented with a option to face my fear of heights.  Guess what? I FACED IT! I faced it with a shaky everything, sweaty palms, and a racing heart. And I am still alive.  And I have never felt more alive in my life.  It was exhilarating! I saw beauty in nature I never would have seen with my feet on the ground. God has created a beautiful world - get out there and explore - face your fears - appreciate the life you live. 

And here are some images from today's explorations - click on them to see them larger!