I’ve tried new things in my lifetime, really I have.  I’ll admit that recently I haven’t pushed myself too much Beyond the Pale (today’s Daily Prompt), but there are things I’ve tried, completely out of my comfort zone, that I would do again and things I definitely will NOT do again.  Case in point:  A “short” hike on the longest day of the year. 

I was much younger then and was motivated by trying to impress a boy; wanted him to like me.  Oh, what women will do!  I’ve tried different sports, listened to and bought music I didn’t like, watched horror movies; all in the name of trying to be someone I was not, in the hope of landing a boyfriend.  Well hiking in the woods on a hot summer day was one of my less intelligent moves. 

Really, were they kidding?!  To me, this was not a hike, it was rock climbing, for which I was not dressed appropriately,  physically or psychologically.  I had new sneakers on, so the tread was good enough to offer traction, but as someone who is amazingly afraid of heights–this was not going to be fun.  There were several well-seasoned and experienced hikers in the group that helped the rest of us, but when we got to a certain point on the rock face…let’s just say we had to find an alternate route.

Not only due to my lack of experience and fear of plummeting off the rocks, but because there was more than one of us with limited experience, the leader of our trek decided we could go “the back way” to get to the top.  It was going to take a bit longer, but the promise of the sunset while sitting on top of a mountain was enough to keep the group going. We did get to the top as the sun was going down and realized that if we wanted to be back to our cars before ALL daylight was gone, we’d have to go down the way we originally planned to come up.  Yikes!!

Today’s thank you goes to the group who pushed me beyond my limits, supported my success, and completely understood when I took a pass the next year for a celebratory Summer Solstice hike.  Thanks: Liz, Helena, Al, Dennis, Tracy, Paul, Mark, Keith, Joe, Chip, and anyone else who took that hike with us!

Other WordPress Daily Prompt Responses:

• Death By Cold (inkhammer.wordpress.com)
• Beyond the Pale, Daily Prompt (kingpollux.wordpress.com)
• Beyond the Pale, Lisa Kansa Muse (kansamuse.me)