This I Believe

My whole life I have been afraid to fail. I always used to think about every risk I was going to take, think again, and then decide not to do it. When I was afraid to jump off of the monkey bars, everyone thought I was a coward. As a result of this I was never very outgoing with my friends and classmates; I was the shy and quiet girl who sat in a corner and never did anything. All that was changed by one incident in third grade at Disney World. Now I believe in leaping before I look.

The summer before the third grade my family took a trip to Disney World. We all decided to go on a ride called Space Mountain. When I got to the top, I found out that it was indeed a huge, twisting rollercoaster that was in the dark. I wasn’t going to ride it, but the line was too large to go back down and I was at the very top. So, crying the whole way down, I managed to make it in one piece. The amazing thing is, I somewhat enjoyed it. The wind whipping through my hair, the adrenaline pumping through my veins as my stomach lurched with all the ups and downs, I feet as if I was flying and truly free. I am now an avid rollercoaster rider; I’m addicted to the thrill.

I live my life much more spontaneously now. If I think of something fun to do, I’ll do it. I may go see a movie, take a random shopping trip, or even try a new food.

Most of my spontaneous experiences are normal things. I’m really not an out-of-the-ordinary type person, but I used to be a very conservative stay-at-home type person, so this is a change. Sometimes I don’t always enjoy my spontaneous experience. A random shopping experience got me rear-ended at Wal-mart, but I still go there and enjoy it when I do. It goes against my nature to be organized and stick to a schedule. I can’t function that way. I prefer to be a care-free, happy person that doesn’t worry about all the little things.

To me, life is more fun when I can do what I want according to my mood. Over thinking things just confuses me and makes for even more worry. Most of the time it’s just easier and more fun to leap before I look; I could be landing somewhere I would have never found if I hadn’t jumped.