What to do when you are ‘Cleared for ALL Activity’

Life comes with defining moments. I experienced a defining moment in December when after surgery my blood pressure bottomed out and I required blood transfusions. As I was spending time convalescing, I was inspired by the Maxwell the pig in the Geico commercials to begin my ‘I’m all better ZipQuest’. Little did I know when I began my ZipQuest that one of the top 10 zip-lines was 2 hours from my house and it was named ZIPQUEST!

My destiny was set; when I was fully recovered I would ride a zip-line and yell WEEEEEEE WE WE WEEEEE as I flew through the air!

I began inviting everyone I knew to ‘zip with me’. Some said yes immediately. Some said no immediately. Most said, let me know the details. But my friend Mary Martha was excited for the adventure! It became a regular topic of conversation at our weekly dinners.

In the first part of March, I was ‘cleared for all activity’ including the zip-line by Dr Deese (my awesome doc) and soon thereafter we set the ZipQuest date – April 1^st (April Fools Day). For my friends who said yes, the time had come to ‘put up or shut up’. Sadly, most shut up!

As the time drew near, the anticipation grew!

Yesterday we began our adventure. The zipping time was 1:30 and our crew assembled at ZipQuest around 1:00. There were eight of us….Me, Jenn (scared to death), Mary Martha, Susan, Vibeke , Jamie, Chad and Jamy (I hope I spelled everyone’s name correctly – if not, drop me a note and I’ll update).

First they get everyone in the harness (we took time for a group photo op). Our guides were CT and Patrick. We could not have asked for better guides! Both are college students. CT is studying forensic pathology and Patrick (former Army) is studying to become a Chaplain and return to the Army.

Then we proceeded to “Ground School”. It’s a zipline 6 feet off the ground that allows you to learn how to start; sit in the harness; how to stop; how to put on your parking brake; and how to ‘self rescue’. Once we had all practiced at ground school we proceeded up the stairs to our first zip of the day!

Naturally, when they asked ‘who wants to go first’ I jumped at the chance! The feeling was exhilarating! And I couldn’t believe how much my heart was pounding when I landed on the next platform! The excitement was almost overwhelming.

I won’t pontificate about each zip or each platform or bridge.

Here are the observations of the day:

1 – Sometimes you need to just take the first step even though it scares you (Thanks to Jenn for this observation);

2 – Sharing an adventure with others makes it more fun;

3 – Anticipating an adventure and talking about it after is almost as much fun as the adventure;

4 – No one remembers the day they sat home on the couch and did nothing special, making memories takes effort;

5 – Do things to celebrate your health and well-being! It won’t last forever.

If you’d like to see more photos of this adventure you can see them all by clicking here or the videos by clicking here.

Lastly, I want to say that yesterday’s adventure lead me to Commandment number four in my Pursuit of the Theory of Happiness.

Commandment 4 is Play Intentionally (more on that later).