I just got back from hiking another 70 mile section of the Appalachian Trail. At the rate I'm going, I will never complete it, but that is actually fine with me. I won't have to figure where else to go hiking for a long time. I had been on the trail for days before I was hit with fear. That may sound strange to people that could not imagine sleeping outside in the freezing cold with no fire. Sure, there were many things that could take you out in a heartbeat, like falling, a heart attack, or even getting sick enough that you could not get yourself back down the mountain, but the fear was something else, and I think this kind of thing comes into play at work as well.
We do really scary things every day and get used to it. I mean, just crossing a busy intersection in your car requires a leap of faith these days. Like most people, I got nervous when the plane that was taking us to the hiking spot hit a bit of turbulence and I started getting images of the plane coming apart like in the TV show LOST. I knew in my head that flying in that plane was way less dangerous than the ride to the airport in the car, but I wasn't used to riding in a plane...I do it rarely, so I didn't have that hardened part in my brain to ignore the danger.
Actually what really scared me on the trail sounds like something really foolish looking back. My brother had decided we needed to get off the trail and hit a hostel for the night because the weather was forecasted to go bad quickly in the evening. The only place we could find close by that would pick us up was a religous cult group that ran an organic farm and hostel, and gladly took in hikers for free..and fed them. I did a quick google search and found blogs saying they were seeking lost souls on the trail and hoped to find new converts that would donate all of their earthly possessions to become a part of the collective. I was saying, no way, I'd rather sleep in the woods, while my brother was voicing that he would welcome a good opportunity to debate religion with these people. I called my wife and told her the address and said if you don't hear from me soon, call the cops!
We get there, the people are as nice as could be, and fed us, and gave us a place to sleep and never said one thing about their beliefs. In fact I was really interested in their little market and how they made their money. Really, really nice people....and while I had spent my time worrying about them, I almost got killed by a car while crossing the road to wait for pickup....crossing Route 9 at rush hour in the woods of West Virginia was probably the most dangerous thing I've done in my life, and it wasn't until later that I realized I had been worrying about the wrong thing....once again.
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