Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John

Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John

Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John

Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John

Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John

Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John

Stepping outside my comfort zone and confronting one of my biggest fears provided further invaluable proof of the enormous importance of having/offering someone support and guidance when they are faced with a challenge. With someone at your side who believes in you and who can offer information (i.e. the owner told me the snake was not poisonous or aggressive), a seemingly impossible feat can become doable. As a teacher or coach, this insight helps me to swap perspectives and put myself in my students' shoes. When students need support in any way, we as teachers have the role of facilitator ("guide at the side") to hopefully help them go the extra mile to achieve something awesome, develop self-confidence and become more resilient.

Here is my challenge.

I have photos and a film which I have shared.

My challenge
I've always been very frightened of snakes, and the thought of having a snake near me was something which basically terrified me, whenever I have been out in a forest or in the mountains where there was a possibility of coming across a snake. I've always been very, very careful, and recently, when the challenge day came up, it was one of the first things which sprang to mind. The thought of actually being in the same room as a snake made me break into a cold sweat. And so I thought, well, how can I overcome this fear?

My motivation
I have a very real reason to want to overcome this fear. We have friends and family in Australia, and one of the one of the reasons we haven't been to see them yet, and this is a big reason, is that I am frightened of going there and seeing snakes. And as we know, in Australia, there are many snakes, and they're very poisonous, and people do actually get bitten and die each year.

This has become a bit of a phobia for me. and I thought the challenge would be an opportunity to try to overcome that. I didn't realize that it was going to be a reality until my wife said that she knew somebody who has a snake, a colleague of hers who has a pet snake, and she would set up a meeting.

Preparing for the challenge
In the run up to the meeting with the snake, I tried to find out a little bit more about snakes, especially when I found out what kind of snake it would be. The snake in question is a constrictor, and fortunately, is not poisonous, but it's one of those snakes which wraps itself around its victims and basically strangles them. So that image was with me for a little while, and I must admit, I did actually dream about it - so it's the stuff of my nightmares. I became even more alarmed when my wife told me that she had spoken to her colleague, and that he had agreed to set up a meeting, and that we actually had a  date. I suddenly had a deadline.

First steps
The day approached. On the actual day, when I knew that I was going to actually be in the same room as a snake and maybe even touch it, I couldn't think of anything else, but I also knew that I was going to go through with it. It helped me to know that somebody would be there who is an expert. It's somebody who knows the snake very well, and somebody who could reassure me that everything would be okay. So we made our way in the evening to an address in Germany where we met the person who welcomed us into his home and lead us through into his living room. In the room, there was a large and impressive terrarium, which the man had built himself.  There, inside, wrapped around a branch, was the snake! I immediately felt alarmed and started to breathe faster.

The snake's owner explained that he had had the snake from a baby. Since then, he has looked after it, and he described what he has to do when he feeds it, how regularly he feeds it and its different types of behavior. The snake is now approximately two meters long and gets fed every few weeks. It eats live mice by catching them and then constricting them until they are defenceless. It then dislocates its jaws to three times their size and swallows its prey!

Taking it further
The next step for me was to become used to being near a snake, and the owner took the snake out its terrarium and held it about three feet away from me. I was sitting down, and he was standing in the middle of the room with the snake wrapped around his arms. The snake started to move and explore his arms and wrap itself around his shoulders and his neck. And this was really quite frightening at the beginning, because I knew that there was nothing really between me and the snake the owner. Then he came a little bit closer and reassured me that it would be okay to touch the snake, which I then very carefully and very slowly did. I reached out and touched the snake, and my wife did the same. And my wife was not scared. She was quite nonchalant about it, and she reassured me that it would be okay.

And so we both stroked the snake, and I was surprised to feel that it was smooth and fascinated at how beautiful it was. That first contact encouraged me to calm down a little. The next step was to actually hold the snake. Then I found that I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to go through with it.

The owner gently place the snake in my hands on my arms.

I became rigid. I didn't move at first. I was encouraged to relax, which I then did by steadying my breathing. Slowly, I gradually  brought my arms closer to me, and the snake started to move. Then, strangely, I noticed that at that moment, I didn't feel threatened. I started to calm down and simply let it happen. I was fascinated and I couldn't think of anything else. I was completely focussed on what was happening to me. It wrapped itself around my wrists and I felt as though I had been handcuffed. The snake was strong and was had my arms in its grip.

Taking up a notch
The snake gradually made its way from me to my wife, who took the snake from me. The snake was passed back to its owner. For me, that was that.
That was the end of my challenge..., I thought, but it wasn't until I stood up and thought, Okay, now we can go, that I realized just how tense I had been.

The owner's wife had the snake around her neck and was standing there next to me, and she asked if I would you like to would to take the snake again. I said no, and she reassured me it would  be okay. And so there we were, and we filmed this. I was standing next to her, and I reached out, and she handed me the snake, and I found that I was actively inviting the snake to come to me, and it felt very, very good. I was nervous, but I knew that nothing bad was going to happen, and the snake came to me. I handled the snake. I then started to move with the snake, and that was a feeling that I will never forget. And I just kept thinking to myself, I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

And I felt a mixture of excitement and joy that I could actually do it, and also very, very thankful that I had people around me who supported me while I was doing this. I think that's a really important point that I learned, that you've got people who are a confident that you can do it, they believe in you, and who are experts and can give you information which will also help you to deal with the situation. I knew that the snake wasn't venomous. I knew that the snake would, in all likelihood, not bite me, and I knew that I had to be calm and relaxed, and that would help the process.

My takeaway
So my takeaway was that it's important to have people around you who can accompany you, and have this and share this experience with you so that you're not alone. If I had been alone in the room with a snake, it would not have happened and I would have been petrified.

I achieved my aim of confronting my fear.

My reflection
My challenge certainly took me outside my comfort zone. I was surprised that I pushed myself a little more by actually actively taking and handling the snake instead of being simply a passive recipient. It made me feel a huge sense of relief and pride. I was also filled with gratitude because I was surrounded by people who believed in me and who supported before and during the critical stages. Without support, it would not have happened. I feel very pleased to have confronted my fear.

Thank you for providing the impulse to do something like this

Best wishes,

John