Mowing lawns and facing fears

Last night I helped my dear hubbie mow the lawn. All one gazillion acres of it.

Ok. It’s not quite that big, but it feels that way when you are mowing the lawn for the FIRST TIME EVER in your entire life and you are on a rider that feels like it has forty horses under the hood and that it will leap forward insanely fast and drive you into one of the stone walls or into the pond.

Yes. I confess. I have never mowed a lawn. Never. Not even one blade of grass.

I imagine that some of my family members are blinking in surprise, wondering how I have escaped the lawn detail.

Part of it, I am embarrassed to say, stems from a fear of sharp blades that move really, really fast. And also tipping over the rider as I mow from the easy flat areas to the mountainous peaks gentle slopes of the yard.

To help me conquer my fear and to keep me safe, my dearest went through the basics of the rider with me, teaching me step by step what to do.

He is really good at that, and it is one of the many things I love about him.

Ok. My turn to show I know how to run this death machine labor saving device.

Turn on the key.

Oops. Let’s make sure it’s in neutral, shall we?

Engage the left lever thingy to the little arrow shaped notch.

Brake. Keep on the brake.

Put it in second gear (There’s a sixth gear??!! Good golly, what were the designers thinking? That speed would make me airborne, I am sure.)

Gently push this other lever up to actually make the blades operational.

Ok. Foot off the combination brake/clutch.

Oooomph. Whiplash.

It’s been too long since I’ve driven anything with a clutch. Must remember how to gently let off the clutch to smoothly engage the mower.

With my heart in my throat and my chest tight with anxiety, I putt slowly around a pretty flat part of the yard in wide circles, playing it safe.

I hit my first incline, and I LEAN to compensate for the slope.

I AM GOING TO TIP OVER!!!!

Nope. That was just my anxious inner baby screaming as we leave our comfort zone.

You will all be glad to know that I finished the evening physically unscathed.

Not only did I get comfortable with the mower by the end of the evening, but as my hubbie and I were doing the final flat expanse, we were zooming around the gradually decreasing perimeter, following each like two go-carts on a race track.

And yes, I was in fifth gear and loving it.

My point in sharing this story is that we all have fears that keep us from moving forward into something new or different or better.

Our kids have fears as well, and we are constantly pushing encouraging them to just get over it, to just go talk to the other students, to try out for a team, to join a club.

Our children learn best from us by our behaviors and actions, not by our words.

Be a good role model and improve your life as well.

Take a chance. Step out of your comfort zone.

Face your fear. And mow it down.