BESTSELF™ ICEBREAKER | Courage 25
WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE SURE YOU'D NEVER DO, BUT SECRETLY WISH YOU HAD THE GUTS?
I admit I’m pretty fearless. I can evaluate a situation pretty quickly and either jump in or out depending on my own assessment of the risk-reward. I do a lot of things that make people uncomfortable: I am not afraid to be alone whether it be to travel anywhere around the world, eat in a busy restaurant, attend the theatre, sign up for a course I might not be qualified for, walk up to a group of people I don’t know and introduce myself. I’m sure there’s more but that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.
What can’t I do? Not much. But I admit that the older I get, the more physically claustrophobic I become. These situations are usually triggered by water - the stuff of my nightmares. (Truly, when my son nearly drowned when he was two, no one knew the terror it caused me - above and beyond the panic for him and his eventual recovery.) I grew up with a pool in the backyard and swam at our local club, where I was on the team and participated in countless swim meets.
I learned, after being caught in seaweed on a family trip down East, that if I couldn’t see the bottom, I wasn’t getting in.
I now live steps away from the great Lake Huron and the Saugeen River, a far cry from a sparkling, see-the-bottom pool situation! Occasionally, I take the dogs down the hill to Scubby’s Point, but, like them, there’s no way I’m going in. I greatly admire the crazy people around here who go for “plunges” throughout all four seasons - no matter the weather or temperature. Me? Not a chance! I surprised myself by going for a float down the river this past summer, but now it’s checked off the list, and I doubt I’ll do it again.
Now, other than getting into bodies of water I can’t see the bottom of, I wish I had the guts to go to Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto. One of my favourite creatures is a jellyfish. They are lit from within, and they are flexible and flowy. An animal reminder of how I want to show up in life. I have a few pieces of art that depict them, but would dearly love to see them live and in person. The idea that I’ll be in a space where sea creatures (!!!) would be above me and surrounding me as I walk through a glass tunnel scares the beejeepers out of me!
I’m thinking it’ll be easier to simply jump out of a plane.