It’s been about a year since I studied abroad in the most
beautiful place in the world. Today I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic- and a
little inspired at the same time. Looking at pictures makes me want to hop on a
plane and head back immediately.
On the other hand, thinking back to all I learned about myself makes me
want to take on the world right here at home. My adventures in Greece pushed me
so far out of my comfort zone into places I would’ve never ventured. I learned that challenging and pushing
yourself doesn’t always end in failure. One tiny step at a time, I transformed
my fears into challenges and my dreams into goals. I pushed past fears of
loneliness, fears of failure, and fears of inadequacy to find new friendships,
new triumphs, and new strengths.
One of my crazy escapades in Greece was bungee jumping from
the Corinth Canal bridge. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of heights and I swore up
and down that I wasn’t going to jump. But something in that moment pushed me to
let go- and just jump. As cliché as it sounds, that bungee jump turned out to
be such a life metaphor for me. I’m always so terrified to jump that I just
stand back and watch everyone else jump- happy in my own comfort zone. But when
I did jump, I experienced a few seconds of the most exhilarating freefall of my
life. All that to say, today I am re-inspired. Re-inspired to keep jumping…. So I never miss out on a
freefall that could be the most exhilarating of my life.
So, enough of my emotional journey. I’ll get to the good
stuff…the reason you’ll be happy you clicked on this post. After I was slowly
pulled back to the platform, the air still sucked out of my lungs, my eyes
still wide open, my legs still shaking, I realized I would never forget that
jump. Not because it was amazingly high and not because it was a symbolic life
journey- but because there was a video. A video I’ll never live down.
People confidently claimed they were sure I was dying from
the sounds I made while freefalling. Well, I’ve locked up the DVD in my room, shielding
it from the multiple attempts to put it on YouTube. But I decided I’d beat my
little sister to it. So here you are. Laugh really hard. Pee your pants...I am
a dying hyena, I know.
