Any fear can be conquered

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I took the kids to the park to play. My daughter found the fireman's pole and started sliding down it having a blast. My son decided that the girl shouldn't be the only one having that much fun, and so they both started sliding down the shorter pole. Since my son is now 10, he decided that he was tough enough to go down the taller pole, yet when he was standing on the platform looking down, he became very terrified. Now mind you this pole was only 2 feet taller than the other pole. The girl (who is now 5) showed her brother how easy it was to go down the tall pole, but the boy could only see himself dying from the height. I don't think I helped matters much, but I tried to give him encouragement, "if sister can do it, you can!" At one point he started crying because he was so scared. I told him it was ok, he didn't have to do it, and a little later, he started getting the courage to go down the pole again, but the height still terrified him. With me standing under him with my arms stretched out, my son finally conquered his fear of heights and slid down the pole. I was so proud of him. There aren't a lot of people that will continue pushing themselves to over come their fears like he did. Good job boy! I love ya!