We took a quick family trip to Vancouver not too long ago. (If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it. Beautiful city, amazing food, a lot to do whatever your interests are.) Once my daughter learned that there was a ziplining park nearby she got so excited that we all decided to go.
There were 9 of us in our ziplining group, plus the two guides. In two hours we did 5 ziplines and it was awesome. It was our second time doing this as a family and I have to say, I was pretty impressed at our kiddo’s fearlessness – at one point we were going 35 miles an hour 5,000 feet in the air!
One of the men in our group seemed really hesitant. He took a while getting up to each of the lines, walked slowly in between, and generally looked not very into what we were doing. On our last line I ended up sitting next to him as we waited for everyone to come over. He complimented me on our kiddo being brave and asked how old she was. I told him she was 10.
“Well, I am 65 and this is my first time doing this. I can’t tell you how scared I feel, my heart is beating so fast, but it was just something I’d always wanted to try and I got tired of being afraid.”
I told him I thought it was awesome of him to conquer his fears. He looked pale, and scared, and I don’t think he is going ziplining again. But it’s not about that at all. It’s about taking a chance and trying something even though it seems scary or challenging. Whether you love it or hate it, do it again many times or never ever again, the point is pushing a little out of your comfort zone.
I said goodbye to our zip-lining companion and on the way back to our hotel made a list of a few things I was going to try even though they seem really tough right now.
What’s on your list of challenging experiences you want to try and when can you give one a shot?
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