I'm only 28 so a young blood compared to a lot of the oldies on here. I felt at 25 that I was too old to start certain hobbies and had fallen into the trap of thinking my life was going to be 'work til retirement age then slowly fade away til death'. I think a lot of youngsters fresh out of school/uni think this. I was feeling somewhat down and uninspired so I decided to change things.
I had always wanted to rock climb but was afraid of heights. So I signed up at the local climbing gym and haven't looked back. I quit social media. I wake up at 5am every morning and go to the gym because I've always been a skinny guy with little muscle and strength. I eat as healthy as possible (pizza is still my weakness), I started doing yoga and jiu jitsu. I have started learning Korean as well (just because). I'm fortunate enough to have enough money to travel so I've hiked to Everest Base Camp, hiked through Milford Sound (beautiful!), traveled and hiked all along the west coast of America. I'm doing a beginner alpinism course in NZ in a few months. All this of this in 3-4 years and I've never felt more positive and keen to take on life. I'll never be the best at any of the activities I've started doing, but I'd rather be average at them than to have never tried them at all. Of course there have still been down times too, but having the goods times to balance those out are important.
I look at some of the people around me who are depressed, lazy, uninspired. Some people are down on their luck and get the raw end of the deal in aspects of their lives, but I think a lot of people are in a bad way mentally because they don't follow their passions due to fear of failure and because the biggest stopper in the way of their dreams/aspirations is the little voice inside your head telling you that it can't be done. While I'm in a good place mentally, financially and health wise, I'm doing all I can to make the most of it; I know things can change in an instant. Perhaps there is someone reading this who has always thought about doing something but never gone ahead with it....just do it!
sounds to me like you’ve got it sussed mate, going to those lengths to conquer a fear is a huge statement about who you are as a person