Thursday, January 27, 2011

Fear of Falling

A lot of things scare me, but heights isn’t one of those things. That’s probably how I came to find myself saying “I weigh 100 pounds” to a grinning 6 foot 5 inch red head who responded with “and you’re a pretty good height too.” It’s also how I ended up standing on his shoulders with my hands extended over my head trying to get a piece of tape has high up on a wall as possible while six other people stood behind us waiting to catching me in case I lost my balance and plummeted the between 6.5 and 11 feet to the ground.

I do however have serious trust issues and sliding my legs over his shoulders was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done, but now that I’ve done it I can’t figure out what about the idea scared me so much. From the moment I said yes everyone on my team couldn’t have been more supportive. More planning went into keeping me from falling than went into how to get the most height out of our feat. In fact we probably lost the contest because they refused to push me to get the tape higher on the wall. Then again I should have volunteered to have the guy boost me up with his incredibly long arms to get in a couple extra feet, and I’ll regret not doing that for a long time to come.

Anyway, my point is that sometimes the fear of falling or of what will happen if we go for something and don’t get it is actually worse than anything that actually happens. I knew if I said my weight I’d end being the one on his shoulder, and I was terrified that he’d let me fall or pretend to let me fall just to scare me. But he didn’t.

It simply didn’t happen. I did it, and it was over. Everything went right. We didn’t win, but nothing terrible happened. I took the plunge and it was amazing. I’ve never had more fun. The adrenaline rush alone was worth the anxiety.

Sometimes it’s a good thing to analyze everything and plan accordingly. Other times you just have to stopping planning, climb on the guy’s shoulders, smile nervously, and get the job done. If you win great, and if you fall then you’ve got to trust someone will be there to either catch you or call an ambulance.

- Aaron

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