I conquered three fears this year.

Hey, way to go me. This year I managed to take on three of my fears and come out swinging. First, people, need I remind you, I JUMPED OUT OF A FREAKIN' PLANE!!! Anyone that knows me knows how insane that was and how it was really the biggest struggle of my life. Perching on the edge of that open door with the wind murdering me at 9000 feet, seeing the patchwork of landscape underneath me, realizing that I was putting my life in the hands of the instructor behind me as well as in the belief that this ballooning piece of fabric would keep me from dying. Well, it was intense.

Kind of related to that, I GOT OVER my fear of flying. I had been really and truly grounded by this fear. I made Lesley drive to Arkanas because I couldn't handle flying. I had never been out of the country, and used to joke that the only way I'd get to Europe would be on a boat or if they built a really long bridge. This year with the help of my death-defying jump and a little thing called ZANEX, I conquered my fear AND got to go to Europe. So great!!

Not as impressive, but equally scary in some respects: I did karaoke for the first time ever. I have NEVER had the guts to do this even though I've been singing all my life. It was irrational to be afraid of that. Last week, I sang one of my all time favorite songs, "Superstar," by the Carpenters. Now that I've started doing karaoke, you'll never be able to shut me up.

WHAT NEW FEARS WILL I CONQUER IN 2006? I can't wait to find out!