Fear of Heights ? Go Bungee Jumping!!

Hi Readers,

A few years ago I was on a trip to New Zealand.

As we were entering Queenstown ( the crazy sports capital of the world !) we went past a Bungee Jump operating from a bridge over a river.

Straight away, and obviously without thinking,  I said "I'm doing that".

When we got to our hotel I got online and made a booking, and made sure I paid straight away. I was given the option to "think about it until tomorrow", but I knew I'd wimp out if I didn't pay on the spot. 

The next morning came around so quickly, and I doubt if I had much sleep that night.

It's at this point I must confess that I have a terrible fear of heights. Even standing on the bath mat can be a challenge!!!

Years ago when driving across the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, I'd always take the inside lanes so that I was nowhere near the edge !!

Another person on this trip asked to come along as he was making a documentary about why people take on difficult tasks and risks, and was wondering if he could film my jump.

No worries I thought, might be the last thing I do !!

So we are off on a mini bus with a few other people from England who were doing their first jump too.

I'd say the scariest bit was walking out onto the bridge to do the jump, that was enough for me, but as I was committed, I soldiered on.

I'll let the clip tell the story, but two things that have stayed crystal clear from this experience are:

1. Standing on the small ledge just before the jump. I was holding on to a small handle with my right hand. They said they would count down from 3, I was to let go, then jump. I knew that if I didn't do it first time, I'd never do it. Also, at the last minute, a worker said to do a big dive forward rather than a pin drop, as it's even more exciting.

2. The silence of the jump. If this makes sense, the silence was perfect, and so clear.

Without further waffle, here it is...

So what did I learn from this?

I am still shocking with heights, but it hasn't stopped me from taking on the challenge of going up tall structures.

It gave me a new resilience for taking on difficult tasks.

Whenever I'm confronted with something really challenging, I often take myself back to this experience and it helps me through.

That's it for today Readers, so until my next post...

Cheers 😁