Let Go Of Fear. Take The Leap.

This week's theme was chosen and written by one of our Athletes Megan "Gunz" DunLevy. Be sure to follow her on Instagram @FitLife_ForMyLife as she dives deeper into this week's theme "Let Go Of Fear. Take The Leap"

“All that we are is a result of what we have thought,” Buddha. We must think that we are worth it, that we can achieve it, and that we will rise above. However, often times in life we set our own boundaries simply based on fear of failure. If we stay inside our comfort zones we may never achieve our fullest potential, you can be your own biggest obstacle or your biggest cheerleader. Once you decide to not focus on the “what if I fall” mentality and focus on the “but, what if I fly” mindset the possibilities are endless. Think about how we have learned lessons throughout our lives, just because you fell didn’t mean that you had to stop trying, in fact you probably learned more from those failures than any other method of learning.

Hello team! My name is Megan “Gunz” Dunlevy, I am active duty Air Force and an NPC Bikini competitor. I have always felt like I had more to give, more to see, more to accomplish, but there was always something holding me back…ME! This year got off to a pretty rough start and I am still feeling some turbulence, but I have a whole new perspective on life. This year has caused me to do some soul searching, to try to figure out who I truly am and what makes ME happy. I decided to make a list of things that bring me joy (fitness, travel, food, music, and being outdoors), and I have made a promise to myself to do more of those things. I also made a list of things that do not make me happy, and surprisingly this list is much shorter, I simply do not like not achieving something because I am standing in my own way.

I have wanted to go camping every day since the last time I went, which sadly was in 2011, but there were always excuses. Until now, I rented a travel trailer, submitted leave and left. People would say I want to go, or criticize me because I didn’t have a plan, tell me I was crazy for going alone, or tell me it was going to rain/hail. If I would have waited for someone to go with me, made an elaborate plan, and waited for the forecast to be perfect for a whole week in Colorado I would still not be doing something that I love…for ME!

Yes, this example was camping but ask yourself this, what is something that you have always wanted to do, or what really brings YOU joy and happiness? Now ask yourself this question, “Why are you not doing that one thing that makes YOU happy?” Im not going to lie I almost backed out of my plan a million times, because I was scared. I have never pulled a camper by myself, I have never even camped in a camper before, I have only driven up to the Rocky Mountains once and didn’t get out of the truck, ummm there are bears in area, and I was going alone. But, I told myself to suck it up buttercup this is what you want, stop talking yourself out of it, don’t stress and RELAX!

Gio preaches to us all the time about “don’t wait until you have a fail proof plan,” and “the most growth takes place outside of your comfort zone.” So here are the options, you can take a chance and fall, sometimes really hard, flat on your face…where you learn from your mistakes, pick yourself back up and try to fly harder, further and faster, knowing that you may fall again, but also knowing one day you will be soaring so high because of the risk you took. Or, you can continue to do exactly what you are doing because you are afraid of failure and stay exactly where you are. So hook that camper up and put er in the wind, we got dreams to chase! “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done,” Thomas Jefferson.