Forgiveness and Flipping Canoes

I'm working on a list of "Things out of my comfort zone I WILL accomplish in 2013."  Here's a start:

1. Post a list of "Things out of my comfort zone I WILL accomplish in 2013" on my blog
2. Ride a tandem bike (SCARY)
3. Canoe and/or float (SCARY)
4. Refinish my dining room table (not so much scary as seemingly impossible)
5. Plant a vegetable and/or herb garden (no green thumbs and presence of snakes)

I've been thinking about #3 because folks are itching for spring so they can canoe on the mighty James River.  Tubing and canoeing are THE thing to do in Scottsville.  Though I would much rather read a book on the bank and live vicariously through free spirits, I WILL canoe and/or float at least once this summer.

Long, long ago...when big hair was semi-popular...I went canoeing.  I was competing in a relay race and the final leg was trip across the lake.  You might not know this about me, but I do enjoy the winning.  It was neck and neck so I went all out: To gain extra speed I leaned to the side and paddled the waters with my arms.  Sweet move KM.  You see where this ship is sailing (pun!) right?  I flipped the canoe...in the dead of winter...to win a relay race.  Not only did we lose; I soaked Daniel Ingram and myself to the bone.  In the words of onlookers I looked "like a drowned rat."  Canoeing is scary. 

It's easy breezy doing things that are second-nature, but retrying things at which we've failed?  Not so much.  If I have failed at something BIG TIME it's hard for me to try again.  Canoe-flipping is funny, but most of my failures aren't actually comical.  Failing at forgiveness and mercy are not quite as fun.

Retrying something at which we have failed is difficult.  There is fear of hardship.  There is fear of displeasing others.  There is fear of seeming like we don't have it all together. Fear, fear, fear. 

Sometimes we focus on shooing fear away, when really what we need to do is be the boss of it.  In my second Mark Twain reference of the week:  "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."  So grab fear by the horns and try forgiveness again.  Step into the canoe with a crazy smile on your face. 

I'm hoping by saying this list out loud I can get out of my boring ol' comfort zone and be one with rapids and vegetables and biking.    

What about you?  What scary things will YOU accomplish in 2013?