So, we will begin as every other road trip does by first, packing our bags, gassing up the car, and getting comfortable behind the wheel. As we begin this discussion, let us consider what we need to carry with us. Firstly, I would recommend for your comfort, a mental drink, something to go back to when you find yourself uncomfortable as we discuss the topics of Fear, and Confidence, the two most hazardous and common obstacles amidst the curves of the scenic route. For myself, I bring the music from my own car trips of my youth, some Jimmy Buffet and Dave Matthews to remind myself of childhood, when bravery meant sleeping without a nightlight.

As for luggage, I suggest carrying an open mind, a healthy map of one's own strengths and weaknesses, and the desire to improve on both in equal measure, as this car trip, just like any other, is as much about the journey as it is the destination. And where are we headed might you ask? Well, that will be revealed by the end of my writing, but first, lets set out and find our highway.

Mine begins like most others, rousing myself from sleep, checking my iPhone for the latest word from my coworkers, boss, and sometimes a word from my Fiance, Infinity, to inform me she safely made it to work, and that she loves me. I then find myself in front of my computer monitor, in the living room, either checking the latest news from all sides of the spectrum or if I have the time, getting a little gaming done. A quick shower, and it's off to the races, a ten-minute drive up the road to my place of work, a nine-hour shift, and its back home for more gaming, news, time with my dearly beloved, and back to sleep.

Sounds sort of similar to your day, right? In case you were wondering, no, I do not take the scenic route every day of my life. Most days, let's say a conservative five of seven days, is exactly the same. The problem with that is your days will start to mesh together, until weeks go by in one big blur and you find yourself aging a year without even realizing it, and before you know it you will have lived to the age of sixty, not really living at all. It is this fear, the fear of not living a life, that prompted me to comment on an Instagram post and join this writing.

You see, Odyssey is my scenic route. I have never written for the public, I have never even posted any of my ideas to an online forum, but in the end it was because of my desire to leave an impression on the world with my time here that pulls me from my games and to you, like a spiritual Uber, hopefully giving someone out there a pause to think about the pattern of there life and do something differently.

So, we have our luggage, we have our comfort, let's get to driving.

I want you to think back to a time you were afraid. I am not talking about jumping during a movie or screaming while on a thrill ride, I am talking about real terror. Visceral, ingratiating, skin crawling fear. For me, I am terrified of heights, funnily enough, I spend most of my autumns at great heights for (usually) no good reason at all, and every time I find myself feeling that stomach knotting sense of dread.

Do you have your moment? Good. Fear is a natural part of life, it is your survival instinct kicking in and doing its job, letting you know that the action you are thinking about doing or thinking about doing could be somehow dangerous and that attempting it could harm you. But let me share something with you, if everyone in the world decided to accept their fears and obey that little voice in the back of their head, we would have long ago faded from the surface of this planet, and some other being would be writing this story, or reading it, right now.

Fear, is the opportunity for bravery, behind one large mental leap. That is all it is. When you distill the biochemistry and philosophy, the science and the brouhaha, you find that in the end, the only way to be truly brave is to be equal parts afraid, and idiotic.

My personal fear of heights has been a point of comedic relief for my family, ever since I was a child. As a child and all the way through to my adulthood around the age of twenty-one, I was too afraid to get on most thrill rides. I would cry, and scream, and make a scene as a child, and as an adult, I would just say no, whenever the mention of a roller coaster came up. But then, one day, as I was walking out of Holiday World in Santa Clause, Indiana, I pulled my younger sister to the side and told her to make me get on the Raven, the smallest full-scale roller coaster in the park. I walked up the queue, knees shaking and close to vomiting, and rode it. That winter as I went with my family to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, I rode every roller coaster and thrill ride in the park, and every time I was scared to literal bits, but by the end of the ride, I was having the time of my life.

Now, taking the scenic route does not always have to include a roller coaster and amusement parks, but what you need to ask that little voice in the back of your mind every now and then, "Is this really going to kill me?" And to be honest, most of the time that answer is a resounding nope.

Gather your nerves, pick an exit, and try something new. You have no idea what is behind the next bend, and it could be something dangerous, that's for sure, but it could also be something astounding.