Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Do you know how many times I’ve heard, “’You’re so lucky! I have always wanted to <fill in the blank>”? That blank may be write a book, visit Harpo Studios (or home base of another idol), watch the RCMP Musical Ride and countless other aspirations.

Luck?

Luck has nothing to do with it! Living life to its fullest means living without regrets; that means stepping out of one’s comfort zone, taking risks, making sacrifices, following through and many other clichés.

All of this is not always easy; for example, my solo trip to Chicago for last year’s SOBCon: Biz School for Bloggers. A few weeks before I was due to fly most of the way across the continent, alone, I was in bed, in the fetal position, bawling out my eyes. I was terrified! All of the “what ifs” were flooding my mind. I desperately wanted to abort the trip.

Once I was cried out and dried my eyes, I ran through getting from Vancouver to Chicago step by step in my mind:

1. Take a taxi from home to the airport – I’ve done that before; the toughest is saying goodbye to Darrell.
2. Check in at the airline counter – I’ve done that several times before, fairly straightforward.
3. Get through security – Somewhat hairy with my possessions beyond my reach and even out of my sight, but…deep breath…survivable.
4. Board the plane – I’ve have also done that many times before; getting me onboard is in the hands of staff, I know the drill.
5. Fly umpteen thousand miles – Nothing for me to do.
6. Be without free access to a washroom – Causes trepidation in any middle-aged woman, but I did my research and was prepared with precautions, just in case.
7. Deplane – Again, something I’ve done before.
8. Find the nearest accessible washroom – I’m getting good at that!
9. Take a taxi to the hotel – Beth Rosen was kindly pre-arranging a taxi and might even meet me (which she did!).
10. Check into the hotel – Hell, if I fly alone across the continent, then I could surely check in at a hotel!

Suddenly what laid ahead wasn’t terrifying! A few weeks later I flew to Chicago without a single glitch.

Had I given into my fears, I would have missed out on my  trek to Harpo Studios, rocking SOBCon with my presentation and meeting the wonderful people who I met. I would have missed out on saying “I did it!” And that’s what living life to its fullest is all about!