I have a similar experience. At the base, I’m very risk averse. When I was 19, I realized how much I let fear of what others would think of me influence my choices. I wowed to stop it, and it became a long period of doing things that scare me. Sometimes, I sought out the fear just to practice dealing with it. Other times, I chose the risky option, knowing that I’d handled the fear even when it was overwhelming. The scariest thing I’ve done so far is skydiving. I was so afraid that my heart-rate, which at that period was 40-50 in resting state, shot up to 172 from pure adrenaline at the time I jumped. I got a mild form of PTSD, where my brain didn’t store memories of the event, so watching the video afterwards was an alien experience.
I haven’t quantified it like you, but it taught me that fear is rarely rational, and that you can face it. Having the experience of skydiving, and going from sheer terror to actually enjoying it (it’s still some of the most amazing experiences I’ve had) taught me that fear should only be a factor if rationale dictates that this is risky. To this day, I don’t regret any of the everyday choices I’ve made that seemed risky at the time.
I have a similar experience. At the base, I’m very risk averse. When I was 19, I realized how much I let fear of what others would think of me influence my choices. I wowed to stop it, and it became a long period of doing things that scare me. Sometimes, I sought out the fear just to practice dealing with it. Other times, I chose the risky option, knowing that I’d handled the fear even when it was overwhelming. The scariest thing I’ve done so far is skydiving. I was so afraid that my heart-rate, which at that period was 40-50 in resting state, shot up to 172 from pure adrenaline at the time I jumped. I got a mild form of PTSD, where my brain didn’t store memories of the event, so watching the video afterwards was an alien experience.
I haven’t quantified it like you, but it taught me that fear is rarely rational, and that you can face it. Having the experience of skydiving, and going from sheer terror to actually enjoying it (it’s still some of the most amazing experiences I’ve had) taught me that fear should only be a factor if rationale dictates that this is risky. To this day, I don’t regret any of the everyday choices I’ve made that seemed risky at the time.