Let me just start by saying I’m totally not an adrenaline junkie.  I prefer calm controlled situations where things flow smoothly.  Yeah kind of ironic for a mom of a large famly.

This summer my youngest won ten passes to a waterpark and guess who was the designated driver? Yep yours truly.  I drove her twice with friends and family to enjoy the local waterpark with it’s lazy river, climbing wall, kiddie pool and two large slides.  All ten passes included admission to the slides.  The first trip I stuck with the lazy river ride on a tube, slow and flowing and with a current that eases you right on down and around the bend.  Second trip being the cheapskate that I am I decided to take advantage of at least one ride down each slide.

What I really don’t like is that I’m so blind without my glasses I feel off balanced and vulnerable. Glasses on a waterslide are not even an option so I removed them and began the long walk up multiple flights of stair.  Sometimes I even have a fear of heights but not so much this time.  Maybe my old not so well fitting swimsuit (lost 24 lbs) helped distract me from my ascension.

I chatted with a young girl as we climbed asking for pointers and any advice.  I asked the lifeguard at the top the same thing. He said, “Just don’t sit up.”  I can handle that I thought. I laid down flat as possible and spread my arms out wide to hopefully slow my ride down to a reasonable speed, like on a regular park slide.  It was a lost cause.  Whhooosh! Away I went slipping and sliding and thinking that any minute I’d go flying out since this was an open slide instead of the tunnel variety.  I kept trying to reassure myself that this was designed for plenty of large people, adults, to experience, not just little kids.  I’d never heard of deaths or unfortunate accidents so odds were I wouldn’t be the first. Splash it was done.   Breathless I crawled out and my friend from earlier raved on about oh how fun the experience was and was I going again?

Slide two was closed in so I thought I’d risk it…. safety precautions are good, like safety belts and harnesses on carnival rides.  I knew there was no way I’d go flying out the sides of this tunnel of fun so off I went. The ride was over much quicker… much quicker than it took for me to get over the water I ingested as I coughed and sputtered over to the sidelines.

I can’t say going down a water slide made me a better person but I can say…. I can do hard things…. I am willing to do hard things if it will take me where I want to go. I can say fear did not stop me from trying something new I was uncomfortable with…. and eventually as with Alice I will be able to say… I did three impossible things today!

Always,
Vickie

Images courtesy of Evgeni Dinev at FreeDigitalPhotos.net