Ziplined my paralyzing fear of heights away today. 8 times. Non-stop.

Sitting in an open air gondola, I tried to stifle my tears and regulate my breathing. I was about to zipline for the first time, down 8 back-to-back circuits of varying lengths and altitudes. For someone deathly afraid of heights, I don’t know what possessed me to sign up for an adventure tour meant for adrenaline junkies. As my mind oscillated between fear and paranoia, I tried to calm myself by staring dumbly around me: trees, birds, overly ecstatic pre-pubescent boy, more trees, blue sky, carefree octogenarian couple. Wait, what? How was it that I was stupidly worried about being suspended in air and plummeting to my death, while they were clearly living la vida loca?

Perched on the edge of an observation deck 200m above ground, my eyes darted crazily from the tour guide next to me to the 700m circuit in front of me to the treetop canopy below me. Chanting, “Just do it, just do it, just do it!”, I lifted my legs, took a deep breath and flew past breathtaking views of the Arenal volcano and lake at a dizzying speed. As if my inane nervousness wasn’t embarrassing enough, my amazing friend has a video of me hyperventilating to the soundtrack of his laughter, before careening through the air at 80 km/h, screaming bloody murder.

Really happy I pushed myself way out of my comfort zone today.

Fortunately, there is nothing like doing multiple ziplines to shock fear out of your system. I was giddy with laughter by the 5th circuit and high on adrenaline by the 8th. Clipping off at the end, I felt invincible, ready to conquer any challenge before me. I was so proud that I pushed myself to do something I was deeply uncomfortable with. Walking away from the landing area, I realized that overcoming any fear, no matter how insignificant, has to begin with a small step. That for me was plucking up the courage to take a leap of faith, literally.

xx Ling