{"id":2051,"date":"2009-07-09T15:34:12","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T20:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2009-07-09T21:30:48","modified_gmt":"2009-07-10T02:30:48","slug":"new-zealand-bungee-jump-a-few-years-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/new-zealand-bungee-jump-a-few-years-back\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Bungee Jump… a few years back"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently came across this story I wrote a few years ago about my first (and only) bungee jump.\u00a0 This took place before my mommy days began. Rather than let it sit any longer on my computer unused,\u00a0\u00a0 I thought I might share…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I remember watching a show about people safely flinging themselves off bridges when I was in grade school. The idea sounded appealing to me then. But, of course, I was in Texas and the sport was only in New Zealand. The idea of me actually doing it was so remote that it was safe to be excited about it.<\/p>\n

Fast forward 16 years\u2026<\/p>\n

I am in New Zealand at Kawarau Bridge<\/a>, that very place I saw on television, watching people take the 142-foot\u00a0 plunge at the world\u2019s first commercial bungee-jumping location. They are regular people you might meet anywhere in the world\u2026 except they are now becoming bungee jumpers.<\/p>\n

Except one girl. She stands on the edge, looks down and changes her mind. She had the opportunity to do it, but couldn\u2019t. A few moments later I see her surrounded by friends consoling her. Tears are flowing and I know she will always regret not taking that chance.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to be that girl and have one ounce of regret. I wanted to reach in, take what life was offering and relish every moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do it,\u201d I said to my husband. \u201cI want to jump.\u201d<\/p>\n

We went to go sign up, but they told me they were booked. I would have to come back the next day. I knew I had to do it then.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t there any way I could do it now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

The girls radioed the jump coaches on the bridge. They would take one more.<\/p>\n

I signed about four releases and filled out what they called a toe tag without reading a word. I didn\u2019t want anything to hold me back. They weighed me, wrote my weight in bright red marker in my hand and sent me up to the bridge.<\/p>\n

My fear of heights somehow left me. I felt bold. I could do it. I would do it. I would live that (ever brief) childhood dream and jump off that very bridge I was so impressed by on television in grade school.<\/p>\n

Then they began to rig me up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is it?\u201d I asked. \u201cIsn\u2019t the strap a little too loose? Will it pull my shoe off?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. It\u2019s good. And it won\u2019t slip down your leg to your shoe.\u201d my jump coach told me and smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u201d I said as I stood and inched toward the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be great,\u201d he said in his New Zealand accent, which I liked at first, but wasn\u2019t sounding so cute anymore. I was trusting this man, this boy<\/em>, with my life.\u00a0 I reminded myself that he had done this too many times to count and that I would be safe.<\/p>\n

I followed his instruction and slid each foot forward and closer to the edge.<\/p>\n

Then I did what they tell you not to do. I looked down. Everything in my body screamed \u201cLEAN BACK! DON\u2019T LET GO! HOLD ON TIGHT!\u201d But I knew I had to do it. I had to fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cPromise you won\u2019t push me,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t push you. You can do it.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n

My husband encouraged from behind me. (He bungee jumped near Victoria Falls in Africa two summers prior. I had asked him not to do it on this trip because I couldn\u2019t take watching it. And here I was, the crazy one this time.)<\/p>\n

Time was crawling. I couldn\u2019t do it. But I didn\u2019t want to be that girl that walked away from the challenge. When would I have this opportunity again? I had to do it.<\/p>\n

My knees were shaking. My mouth was dry. My fear of heights was gripping me. I could not let it win.<\/p>\n

Finally, without thinking, I did it.<\/p>\n

I jumped off that bridge and plummeted towards the river, soaring through the air at a speed I had never experienced, free-falling and screaming in delight.<\/p>\n

The hard part was over. The fear was gone. I was flying! Boulders seemed to sail by me and finally I noticed that I was climbing back up, floating in air. The ride was much smoother than I had anticipated. I was filled with an exhilaration I had never experienced. I had conquered a fear… and felt what it was like to fly (almost literally and figuratively).<\/p>\n

I began to giggle as a raft drifted over to retrieve me as I was hanging upside down over the water.<\/p>\n

I grabbed onto a long stick and was lowered onto the raft. There my ankles were released… and then they began to really shake.<\/p>\n

I still couldn\u2019t believe what I had done.<\/p>\n

I climbed the trail up the side of the river and joined my husband and the others in my group. And I felt like a conqueror. I was a conqueror.<\/p>\n

And that was just the beginning of my New Zealand adventure\u2026 I was still signed up for a glacier heli-hike, hang-gliding, white and black-water rafting and a jetboat ride through a narrow stream. (Unfortunately the hang-gliding trip was cancelled due to winds. But the rest was still breathtaking.)<\/p>\n

This post is linked to Things I Love Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently came across this story I wrote a few years ago about my first (and only) bungee jump.\u00a0 This took place before my mommy days began. Rather than let it sit any longer on my computer unused,\u00a0\u00a0 I thought I might share… I remember watching a show about people safely flinging themselves off bridges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moms-journal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2056,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions\/2056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}