大象传媒

I鈥檓 someone who鈥檚 always been afraid of heights, but last week I found myself three thousand feet high in a hot air balloon with 16 strangers, feeling the wobble in my feet and a thump in听my heart.听I had finally managed to go on holiday to Cappadocia in Turkey, a region known for its otherworldly rock formations which resemble fairy chimneys.听My friend and I got up well before dawn had cracked, bleary eyed, excited, nervous, to make our way to a valley where the hot air balloons looked like sleeping giants being stirred from their slumber.听

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I climbed, rather gracelessly into the basket, anxiously uttered a 鈥楤ismillah鈥�- 鈥業n the name of Allah鈥�, and we began our ascent into the sky. There was no turning back.听The higher we went, the more I clutched my friend, but the sheer majesty of the landscape spread out beneath me folded my fears into a new feeling of liberation. I鈥檇 pushed myself out of my comfort zone 鈥� a place I have clung to throughout life.听Risk taking is not my forte, because it brims with uncertainty and potential pain. I鈥檝e dodged the risk of rejection by never telling that guy I liked him, I鈥檝e avoided the risk of failure, by not pitching an idea to an editor in case they won鈥檛 take it on.

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Prophet Muhammad, when he first received the divine revelation in the year 610, felt fear too. He knew that the status quo of the oppressive pagan Arab society he lived in would make his mission nigh impossible. But he faced the uncertainty, and revolutionised the whole of society in 23 years.听A society is too big for me to take on, but I can start a revolution in me.听I believe fear, if听tackled right, grows you. It expands your horizon, it helps you build up through each challenge. But first I need to break down the barriers in me.听The Persian Sufi female poet, Mahsati Ganjavi, knew this in 12th听century, 鈥淥n this journey鈥�, she wrote, 鈥淚 found the problem听to be myself.听When I went beyond myself,听the pathway finally opened.鈥澨齀鈥檒l try to take risks more often, whether in hot air balloons or with my feet on the ground, I鈥檒l turn fear into a key, opening myself to new adventures.