Face Your Fears ... I Faced Mine

I am slightly (as in my knees shake when I stand above five floors) acrophobic. 

It's true. 

I didn't have it when I was young.

In fact, I loved climbing trees when I was a kid. 

When I was in high school, whenever seminary classes were cancelled, I would sometimes climb up the church's roof top via the tower. I would stay there for several minutes until my tummy rumbled for dinner. 

But now...

My knees will shake even if I climb over our rooftop, which mind you, is not even more than 15 feet high! Pretty lame, huh? I don't know why or when I developed such phobia. 

So anyway, on the second day of our Boracay adventure, I decided to face my fear when I saw this on our first night. 

And I thought, hey if that kid can brave the walls, may be I can.

The next day, when I'm sure there wouldn't be any people around,  I decided to give it a try.

I haven't reached halfway when my knees started to shake, my hands got all sweaty, and my heart started to  beat fast. Was my heart beating so fast because I was scared? Or was it because my body was just not used to such strenuous activity anymore? Believe me, it was hard to tell.

I thought I was going to give up mid-way. My legs were starting to tremble, you know. I kept telling myself, one more climb... you're almost there... you can do it... But the ultimate reason I was able to push forward was ... don't even think of going back down there if you can't ring that bell, you fat loser. Okay, that was harsh, but what can I say? I needed tough motivation.

But you know what? When I reached past half way, I kind of felt light. It wasn't that hard anymore. And when I rang the rusty old bell, I felt like screaming from the top of my lungs. Reaching the top felt like I can accomplish anything! Heck, I even felt like I can climb over the roof. The feeling was just awesome! 

When it was time to come down, I didn't want to. Partly because I didn't know how. So.... anyway, that's another embarrassing story.

There are two things I've learned from the climb:

1. The first half is always the hardest. But when you have adjusted to the challenge, and you get past that part of the obstacle, it will be like smooth sailing (I think). 

2.  I now know what Ethan Hunt must've felt when he free climbed the Burj Khalifa with a pair of sci-fi stick gloves.

(Via)

On a different note, that guy wearing maroon shirt is Josh, the hubby. He wasn't really interested in doing the wall climbing initially. But when he saw that I reached the top, his competitive spirit just spiked high. Perhaps he couldn't take that his scaredy-cat, slightly acrophobic wife was able to ring the bell? Maybe...

He was also able to climb it faster than I did, though. He said it was because he was able to plan his route while he was watching me. Cheat.

So yeah, it was a pleasure facing my fear. If given the chance, I would do it again. 

P.S.

(The hubby doesn't approve that message.)