Conquering our fears

I was an inherently frightened child (still am, in fact). As a result, I was never able to excel at anything that involved any risk whatsoever. I was able to ride my bicycle slowly on level ground, but chickened out almost every time I tried to ride down the slightly inclined circle driveway next door (I eventually mastered it, but it took years of psyching myself up for it). I can tread water for a very long time and got really good at floating on my back, but I never learned to dive (in spite of the fact that my mother used to be a lifeguard/swim instructor), because I always refused jump in the water without holding my nose. As it happens, I still won't. Even when my older sister and all of my friends would climb (with ease) the trees in my front and back yards, I opted for the one next door that was basically like climbing a ladder.

I never did cherry-drops on our swing set. I don't swim in lakes or oceans where I can't, if need be, touch the ground. I get out of the water at lakes or oceans at the first hint of a fish being near me. I never open my eyes under water. I never wanted to by a flyer in cheer leading. I never tried flips on the trampoline or into the swimming pool. I've never done a slip-n'-slide. I never tried complicated turns in drill team. I never did any flips or aerials in swing dance. I don't like to go in the sun (my fair skin makes this especially frightening). I didn't ride my first roller coaster until the end of high school (and not for a lack of opportunity). I have absolutely no interest in bungee jumping. I rarely jumped off the swings at school. I don't try a lot of new foods. I never dove or slid in volleyball and softball (which could explain why I was benched so often). I was a retroactive nervous wreck during Shark Week 2010, simply because they had a special on the shark attacks in California during 2008, which is when/where I went surfing for the first and only time. I can't walk through my living room at night, because there are no curtains over the windows. I was never good at the limbo, because of a fear of falling backwards, not because I'm not good at it. I could never trick skate (of either roller or ice variety) or even just skate backwards. I also can't roller skate fast, and the first (and only) time I tried to speed up, I sprained my wrist. Even recently when I tried riding a horse, I kind of freaked out whenever it went faster than standing still.

I bring this up now, because recently, I was reminded first-hand of an activity I quit all too soon simply due to fear. This past weekend, my hometown hosted its annual arts and music festival.

In addition to live music, free food, fabulous face painting (see how awesome Kirsten and I look to the right - and yes, we were by far the oldest people that got our faces painted), and some great shopping, this yearly festival has a wide variety of street performances. Yesterday, Kirsten and I arrived just in time to see the local gymnastics team warming up for their presentation. Watching these pretty young, adorably talented girls do handsprings, flip flops, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't even name, we both realized how unfortunate it was that we both quit so early.  I quit before even learning to cartwheel (to be honest, I think the venue told my mom to not re-enroll me, because I refused to do anything more than a somersault). Kirsten quit just after learning to cartwheel.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture while they were doing cool stuff, but here they are doing the Cupid Shuffle. And yes, there are people inside those weird tube things.

Because I have grown more confident and less terrified in my 22 years (not much more, but more), I think it is time to retry some old activities. As a result, Kirsten and I are on the lookout for some adult tumbling classes! Also, I just bought Groupons for horseback riding and roller skating, so we'll see how those go!

Were you a terrified child? What about a terrified adult? Are you totally jealous of our face paint?

And for your delight, here is a picture of Kirsten with the weird tube man, who regrettably did not do a cartwheel, but was rather expressive with his hips when dancing.