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I look at the man beside me. Chiseled jaw and unruly hair.
Damon’s thumb touches the inside of my wrist, and I know he can feel my pulse beating incredibly fast when I notice that he brought me to The Forge: Lemont Quarries, an adventure park.
“Have you ever been here?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No.”
I take it all in once we leave the car, ecstatic to try something new with him. He grabs my hand and leads me to a small cabin.
A man at the front desk instructs Damon on a few things and makes us sign a few documents before Damon hands me the bag with my new clothes inside.
“Go change—we’re going ziplining,” he tells me.
I do, in record time. I’ve never done ziplining in winter before.
Once we climb the steps to the top, with the proper equipment on, I’m ready to throw all my weight into the air. My body’sbuzzing with adrenaline from the thought of being carried 900 feet over the quarry.
I’m alive again. So alive I could die today and be fulfilled.
“Ready to do this?” a woman who seems to be in her forties asks Damon and me. I nod, all suited up in a one-piece snowsuit and a neck warmer, with a helmet and ski goggles.
“Here are the gloves; they’re designed to fit on the grip handles you’ll be holding onto. And the harness,” she says, fitting mine in firmly before she tells me to head toward another instructor.
I eye Damon as we make our way there.
There aren’t many people today, just a few behind us.
I pull down my neck warmer, grabbing Damon by the jaw. I kiss him, in case we die, in case we don’t. I kiss him because I want to. Because it’s the last warmth I want to feel before the cold front of wind hits my body from all sides.
Then I step back, and it’s Damon’s turn.
He’s listening to the instructions of the man who’s clipping the pulleys. Only he could look sexy in snowboarding googles. He turns back and gives me a nod before he’s off.
I’m a trembling mess when it’s my turn. The man speaking is basically talking to a wall. I can’t register anything. I simply nod.
This is the moment.
The few seconds before you’re about to do something absolutely crazy.
The few seconds in which you feel the adrenaline, the fear, the nerves. You feel the excitement, the accelerated heart rate.
I need to pee too.
This is what life is all about. Facing fears.
Fear is everything.
It’s the single most important thing, and we underestimate it. It helps species survive, adapt, protect themselves. And, as humans, it warns us of dangers, but most importantly, it helps us grow.
You will almost never regret making it to the other side of fear because crossing fear means power.
I put on my gloves and hold on to the handles.
And once I’m off, it’s as if I’m flying, throwing myself into nothingness, the zipline soaring over frozen water.
If I fall—this is it.
I smile and chuckle, taking it all in. I’m shaking my head, all alone, staring at the beautiful trees farther ahead covered in snow.
