Don’t Put Me in a Box

A story about fear, freedom, and finding out who you really are — one ride at a time.

Labels are for jars, not for people. Don’t box yourself in — reinvent yourself every day.

Today I did something that scared me. Not in the skydiving, heart-racing, adrenaline-junkie kind of way—but in a way that cracked open a tightly closed part of myself and let in something new.

I went to an enduro mountain biking practice.

Enduro racing is known for fast, skilled downhill riders. The kind of people who fly down rocky trails, corner hard and fast, and make gravity look like an ally. That’s not me—at least, that’s what I’ve always told myself. I’m the careful one. The conservative one. I take my time. I assess. I go around the big stuff.

But who said that has to be all I am?

Today was a leap—not because I rode every steep corner or every chunky descent, but because I showed up.

I dared to do something outside of my self-prescribed identity.

I allowed myself to not be good.

I allowed myself to be new.

And in doing that, I took a hammer to the quiet little box I’ve put myself in.

Nobody else told me I couldn’t do this. No one else said I wasn’t an enduro rider. That was all me. My own quiet internal labeling:

“You’re not that kind of rider.”

“You’re not that brave.”

“That’s not you.”

And honestly? I’m calling bull on that.

Maybe I am that kind of rider.

Maybe I’m not just careful—I’m evolving.

Maybe I’m both strong and scared.

Maybe I don’t need to choose.

There’s something wildly powerful about letting yourself do something you’re not good at (yet). To step into a space where you’re not the best, or the fastest, or the smoothest—and still show up with your full heart.

Today, I didn’t just practice mountain biking.

I practiced freedom.

I let go of who I thought I was supposed to be and made room for who I might become.

So here’s your reminder: You don’t belong in a box.

Not the one someone else gave you.

And especially not the one you gave yourself.

Get out there. Do something new.

Scare yourself a little.

You might just find a version of you that you really like.