Do Hard Things: On Amusement Park Rides, Body Image, and the Evidence You're Braver Than You Think

Doing hard things on purpose, even small ones, builds evidence that you actually can. That has been my theme this summer and it showed up in the most unexpected place. A swing ride at our local amusement park that nearly broke me.

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The Ride That Humbled Me

We got season passes this summer and I went in with a goal. I wanted to ride the rides with my kids and actually enjoy it. My six year old will get on anything he is tall enough for without a second thought.

I am not wired that way.

Drops, speed, height, none of it meshes well with my nervous system. But I have been practicing. I started with the ladybug drop and the little firetruck ride and the kiddie coasters. I worked my way up slowly. And then there was a new swing ride that goes around like a Ferris wheel, whipping forward and back at speed.

My husband and son were sure I would love it.

I got on. The first revolution hit and my entire face did the thing. Jaw dropped. Eyes wide. Body fully clenched. My brain went immediately to we are going to die on this ride today.

I did not scream. I just tensed. And then, somehow, my meditation practice kicked in. I closed my eyes. I breathed with the motion of the ride. In and out. And when I closed my eyes?

I felt significantly better.

What That Ride Taught Me

I got off trembling. I did not enjoy it the way I had hoped. My husband watched my face the whole time and said, you were not having fun. And he was right. But I did it. And I breathed through it. And that is evidence.

The solution was so simple.

Close your eyes. Breathe.

But in fight or flight mode we rarely stop to evaluate what we actually need. We just white knuckle through or we bail. The fact that breath work and stillness were available to me in that moment, that they had become instinct, that is not nothing. That is months of practice paying off in a scary swing chair forty feet in the air.

Will I ride it again? Probably not. But I am open to the faster, forward-moving roller coasters. We still have two months of passes left.

"When I simply move my body, something shifts. Not the scale necessarily. But my energy, my strength, and my thoughts about myself."

Why Weight Has Nothing to Do With Desirability

"In fight or flight mode we rarely stop to evaluate what we actually need. We just white knuckle through or we bail."

I have also been thinking a lot about body image this summer, partly because I am working on my own relationship with my body and partly because I have an upcoming episode with my aunt Jill, who is a health coach and won a $120,000 body transformation competition back in 2011.

I googled why weight plays such a factor in desirability. The answers were sociocultural and evolutionary, something about weight indicating health and fertility.

What I have noticed in myself is that when I simply move my body, something shifts. Not the scale necessarily. But my energy. My strength. My thoughts about myself.

I am more desirable. I am strong. I am taking care of myself.

The only thing that changed was that I showed up for my body. And it responded by making me feel like more of myself.

What Is Coming Up

I have two episodes coming that I am genuinely excited about. My uncle Kamron Coleman, who is an artist working on a scroll that is hundreds of feet long based on years of research and study. His perspective on becoming and the life cycle of growth is unlike anything I have heard. And my aunt Jill, whose story of body image, weight, and finally making peace with herself is one I have watched unfold my whole life.

Both episodes carry the same thread running through everything I have been sitting with lately.

Who we have been is part of the reason we are who we are right now. And who we are right now is already becoming the next version of ourselves.

"Who we have been is part of the reason we are who we are right now. And who we are right now is already becoming the next version of ourselves."

Pick One Hard Thing

Do something this week that pushes you a little. Pick one thing that is slightly outside your comfort zone and start it. You do not have to finish it the way someone else would finish it. You do not have to love it. You just have to start and see what you learn.

That is the evidence.

Every time you do a hard thing, even a small one, you build a case for yourself that you are capable. And that case gets stronger every single time you add to it.

You got this 🤟🏼

Brynne

🎙️Episode with Jill

🎙️Episode with Kamron

Thanks for Being Here

Hi, I’m Brynne. I share my journey of becoming through stories and reflection - guided by a higher power as I explore identity, faith, and everyday life, inviting you to grow alongside me.

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