Beyond Limits

December 6, 2009 louhamilton
Tags: challenge, fear, holiday, iimits, rainforest, St Lucia, zip-wiring

It is tempting to settle by the pool with a fruit cocktail and a book; from time to time easing my frying limbs into the cool water. But for some reason on holiday I am drawn to the stuff that scares me. Today my challenge is zip-wiring through the rainforest. Now for some people the thought of that is exciting, for others it is terrifying. I fall into the latter category- I am scared of heights. So why would I want to put myself through it? I was kind of tricked into it really. It started with the promise of a walk through the rainforest. That developed into: well actually it is a walk through the rainforest on planks through the treetops. Then it transpired that between walkways we would have to slide down steel wires to reach the different levels of walkways, hundreds of feet above the ground. But by the time this completed version of what the excursion actually entailed was revealed to me it was already too late – I had committed myself and it seemed a bit mean on my companion to back out now. So I find myself on the bus being transported to the depths of the rainforest with a cheery guide outlining the do’s and don’t of flying through the air at great speed attached only to a thin wire. At one point she sparkles her smile at us all and asks if any of us is nervous. I put my hand up. She laughs and attempts to reassure me by telling me that it wouldn’t be good business practice to let people fall from great heights. Dead customers don’t look good on the records. And anyway if we do exactly what we are told we’ll be fine. We arrive at our destination and I look up into the trees. High above us I can see the wires strung up in the canopy. Really high. I turn pale. Our guide informs us this is the low section. I swallow. I am manhandled into a harness and hard hat and given a pair of leather gloves with holes in. We are told that the gloves are to protect us from wire burns. I look at the holes in my gloves again. It looks like they haven’t done a lot of protecting. We tramp up the dripping walkways. It is raining and in the heat it turns to steam. We climb higher and higher and my stomach churns. As we reach the first launch post we are lead through a series of health and safety features, which includes the order “whatever happens make sure you don’t hold too tightly onto the wire or you won’t go fast enough and you won’t reach the other side.” One by one the members of my group settle down into their harnesses and are pushed off over the abyss. Then it’s my turn. Come on, girl you can do it, I tell myself. But I am shaking as I am attached to the wire. “Smile” shouts someone behind me but my face is locked in panic. Suddenly I am pushed off. “Keep balanced otherwise you will spin at high speed” I remember them telling us as I start to spin “Oh god, no”! so I grip the wire tightly. “Don’t grip the wire or you’ll burn your hands and you’ll slow down”. I quickly un-grip my hands but it’s too late; I have slowed my momentum and as the wire tips upwards slightly at the end towards the landing platform I come to a grinding halt. The leader calls out “I told you not to slow down- now you are going to have to turn your body round and pull yourself along the wire”. Great. But I manage to do as I’m told and there is a cheer as I drag myself up onto the platform. Apart from falling to my death, I have now experienced the worse thing that can happen I am told. Well I survived that I think, so strangely I feel braver. The next few attempts are faster and higher and I begin to get a sense of fear falling away. We eventually reach the highest point, way above the canopy. The view is stunning. This is to be the longest and highest run. I take a deep breath. I am going to give it everything I’ve got. One, two, three, GO! And I’m pushed off the platform into space. It is awesome, I am flying through the air, the world stretching out below me. I suddenly hear the voice of my daughter when she learned to ride her bike for the first time “Mummy, I did it, I did it” And now I shout to the clouds “I did it, I did it!”
I feel the exhilaration that people feel who love doing crazy, scary things. I realise it is the same sensation in my body as when I described it as fear but now I am feeling it as thrilling. I have broken through my barrier of fear and have experienced the excitement of living beyond limits.

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