When a friend said she wanted to go ziplining in Costa Rica a few months before our trip there, I had an anxiety attack and was up all night, shaking and thinking, "Oh, I could never do that!" But the next day, I recalled an incident about 30 or 40 years prior when I on impulse had a big snake wrapped around me and then with fright on my face, exclaimed, "Take my picture; take my picture," and got the handler to remove the snake immediately!!!I therefore determined that if there was any chance I could go ziplining, I would need to make some major changes in my consciousness. I couldn't just go there without any mental preparation and do it!!
So what I did was go online to Adventure Park and Hotel Vista Golfo and lift a photo off of their website of a beautiful young woman on the Superman half-mile-long zipline. I then put my camera on a self-timer and took a photo of myself in the same position stretched out across a dining room chair. With my Photoshop skills, I put my face on this photo (how I wish my body looked like this!!!), and with this photo, I made it my screen saver for five months.I also studied any images I could find on Google images and videos on YouTube of people ziplining. In my search, everyone seemed relaxed and happy. I felt each image and video in my body.
By the time I got to Adventure Park, I was relaxed and confident. I was 70 years old traveling with five others who went ziplining too, ages 60 to 76. Six of us went on 25 ziplines, did 2 rappels down the sides of cliffs, and walked on a suspension bridge. We also went swimming in very cold waterfall pool. After the 25 ziplines, we were offered the opportunity to pay a little bit more and go on the Superman half-mile-long zipline. Two of us did it, and it was a real highlight. I didn't program my consciousness and travel thousands of miles to miss out on the longest zipline of all!
I told this story to a woman on an airplane yesterday, and she told me to write it up, that people need to hear that change takes dedication and work. The satisfaction of that accomplishment makes my heart purr every time I talk about it or think about it.
I also know that anytime I stretch myself out of my comfort zone and accomplish what I set out to do, it gives me confidence to reach my next goal in life.