@Maru…the quote you expounded on definitely had the greatest impact on me as well. Thank you for your thoughts on this post. The passionate tone of your writing was spot-on for this topic. You should turn that into a full post, and send it in…I mean, what are you waiting for :) ?

All the best, and good luck applying this to you, Brett, and everyone else here.

This reminds me of this past summer when I studied abroad in Italy. In the days leading up to my departure I was filled with anxiety of traveling, leaving behind my friends and family from home during one of only times of the year I see them and having to meet a slew of new people going on the trip, in addition to an ex-roommate who there was some bad blood with. I was even starting to think I should back out that I became so worried.

Even once I we arrived in Italy and checked into the college we were staying at I remember dropping off my luggage in my room, walking out the door to goto an orientation meeting and stopping in the stairwell just filled terror. “What the fuck am I doing here, I’d rather be home,with my friends, somewhere predictable and comfortable, this is going to be hell…”.

This mindset lasted for little more than a few hours. That night all of us who were on the trip walked to the small town we were near and went to the bars. Some drinks later and I realized I was having the time of my life. Everyone on the trip had something about them that was truly unique and good, the local people were kind and welcoming, our professor was a very down to earth man and class mostly consisted of us just talking about whatever we wanted (in Italian of course). I conversed with locals and my Italian became better in 6 weeks than it had the entire year I studied it at my university. I met people that made lasting impressions on me, made friends that I still talk to, and even made good with my ex-roommate. It was truly a life changing experience.

Now, when I feel anxious about going into any situation I think back to that pang of fear and terror I felt in the that stairwell in Italy and remind myself that that pang of terror was the starting point of one of the single most positive experiences of my life.