The Scary Stuff

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For us, the scary stuff came on the very first day of our full time RV life!  We had been planning, dreaming, praying and hoping for that glorious day for four long years already.  Nervous, yes!  Scary?  Didn’t see that one coming!

Here’s what happened.  We finally arrived at Lazydays RV in Seffner, Florida and met our beautiful new RV!  We were definitely in love with our new home the minute we saw it!  At that point, we already had it inspected and had everything fixed. Then, we did our final walk through and signed the papers.

After moving practically everything we owned from the tiny U-Haul trailer into our new RV home on wheels, it happened!  Shion said, “I’m terrified.”  She was serious!  Had we made a mistake?  Did we stop everything and beg the RV dealer to just take it back?  Absolutely not and it’s the reasons why not that forever changed our lives!  More on that in just a bit.

This was painful for everyone.

More scary stuff started even further back, about a year before we ever got the RV and hit the road.  At that point in our lives, we were both very passionate about wanting to live the RV life.  However, being passionate about something does not necessarily mean you’re very outgoing.  In fact, at that point, Shion and I were the farthest thing from outgoing you’ve ever seen!

We were both absolutely scared, not only of public speaking, but anything that drew attention to ourselves in public at all.  It was so painfully obvious just to watch us occasionally say something or even just stand up in front of a group of people.  Trust me, it was just as painful for us as well!  So, what do you think our natural next step would be? 

Start a YouTube channel, of course!  I mean, isn’t it obvious?  Okay.  All joking aside, in the beginning we weren’t extremely excited about doing this YouTube thing.  Talk about scary stuff, especially for shy people like us!  I mean, what if anybody actually watched us? 

It would have been so very easy to talk ourselves out of it.  We certainly didn’t need some scary YouTube channel in order to travel full time.  So, did we just pass it off as a ridiculous thought and forget about putting our lives on YouTube for all to see?  Absolutely not!  Yet again, the reasons why not have changed our lives forever!

Let’s get very personal.

So, why did we go ahead with full time RV life knowing that it literally terrified Shion at that moment?  Why did we start a YouTube channel even though it was exactly the type of thing we were both afraid of doing?  Why have we done several other things that have made us nervous along our nomad journey so far?

Because our reasons why we should do them were greater and far more important to us than our reasons why not and our fear!  I’m going to share our very personal and very real reasons why with you shortly.  But first, you need to hear this.

Is it good or bad to be scared?

Listen, sometimes you’re scared of something for a good reason.  Your fear is there to protect you from doing something that may not be safe or may be bad for you to do for whatever reason.  That’s not the kind of scary stuff we’re talking about here.

We’re talking about stuff you’re scared of because it’s new for you or out of your comfort zone.  Perhaps it’s because you just never think you’re fully prepared to do it.  There could be many reasons why.  So, why didn’t the scary stuff stop us this time?   

How we embraced the scary stuff.

Let’s start with Shion having been terrified when starting our full time RV life.  The reason she was willing to embrace the scary stuff and work through it is quite simple, really.  We absolutely hated being stuck!  Honestly, we still hate being stuck to this day! 

We passionately wanted to live and work full time in an RV so we could see places and experience things for ourselves that we never would have been able to otherwise.  Of course we did not want to live on dreams alone while staring endlessly at scenic webcams and Instagram pics from other people. 

Shion instantly knew that she wasn’t scared out of a need to avoid something bad or harmful.  She was scared because it was a major life change for us.  A change she desperately wanted that would indeed change our lives forever!  But, scary never the less.  She embraced the scary stuff because she expected it would go away and be replaced by the joys of our new journey in life.  And she was right, it did!

Why introverts should start a YouTube channel.

But still, a couple of big introverts starting a YouTube channel?  You’re probably thinking that’s not quite the same thing.  So, why did we embrace this particular scary stuff?  I mean, why put ourselves through that?

Well, we started our YouTube channel for two main reasons.  We actually thought it would be a good business opportunity.  Okay.  Okay.  When you’re done laughing, I’ll tell you the other reason.  We didn’t want to feel alone on the road.  We knew we needed community!

Although we knew we’d put ourselves out there and meet people in other RVing groups and circles, we wanted a sense of community or family that stayed with us wherever we traveled to.  As of today, we have that and we LOVE the Broken Dreams Reborn (BDR) Community!  We not only get to share our lives, but one of the biggest blessings is other people now share their lives with us and others through the BDR community as well.  Definitely worth it and life changing!

May we give you a little advice based on our experience?

Benefits of embracing scary stuff.

If you’re not willing to get out of your comfort zone once in a while, you’re probably missing out on something wonderful you could be experiencing right now!  Is it better to just live in fear and avoid expanding the scope of things you can experience and benefit from simply for some temporary comfort?  We would say no, but you have to answer that one for yourself.

Let’s be honest about this too.  Just because we were willing to try something new and embrace the scary stuff does not mean it worked out right away either.  I mean, look at our first YouTube video and several videos after that.  In our opinion, not only were those videos not very good, but you could easily see how terrified we were on camera. 

Embracing the scary stuff once makes it easier to do it again with something else.  At least it has for us. The more you get used to praying, preparing and then doing something new and scary, the more you gain enough confidence to keep embracing the next new and scary opportunities as God presents them to you. 

However, Shion and I did four years of research, planning, dreaming and praying before being blessed to hit the road full time!  We knew, as much as anyone possibly could without actually doing it, what we were getting ourselves into. 

With all that being said, it’s worth mentioning that embracing the scary stuff can take time.  It won’t always be a decision you make right away.  Shion decided right away in that moment that she would embrace her fears as we started our full time RV life.  By contrast, it took us a while to decide to actually start a YouTube channel. 

The most important reason we can push past fear.

But wait, the most important reason we can sometimes embrace the scary stuff is because we pray and have faith!  Honestly, we pray for God’s guidance and provision according to His will.  Also, through our faith in Christ we also know that, ultimately, our joy, peace, happiness and all good things are blessings from Him regardless of our situation.  As long as He loves us, which He always will, and we give our lives to Him, we know we’ll ultimately be okay no matter how good or bad things go with this part of our lives.

In the end, this is what it’s all about!

We’re still human. We still give into fear sometimes when we shouldn’t and we let it stop us from trying something new. Sometimes when we actually do push past fear, it still doesn’t work out.

However, when we embrace the scary stuff and it goes so well is when our horizons are broadened, our potential new experiences are multiplied, our ability to meet amazing people increases greatly!  Some stories for another day of us embracing the scary stuff include getting over my fear of heights for better hiking, getting to know our RV to be self-sufficient with maintenance, boondocking for the first time, giving seminars and the list goes on!    

In the end, it’s all about the journey.  We know our final destination is, ultimately, being with God and our forever family.  But, for now in this part of life, we’re trying to embrace our journey and enjoy it as much as we can!  Life is an adventure, so go make some memories!          

If you want to be part of the BDR Community, you can go right here on our website as well as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.  We look forward to seeing y’all there!