A Workout

You know those times when you say, "There is absolutely no way I'm doing that."? I love saying it. I don't have to do the thing then, because I'm being pathetic and whiny, and therefore no one feels like forcing me to do anything. Oh, I've used it on occasions like, say, spiders in my room, a 100 degree day when it's possible you'll be painting something...outside...So, let me share with you my latest experience with the afore-mentioned phrase.

I returned home this afternoon from the week-long camp my youth group goes to each year. Needless to say, it was a fantastic experience altogether, but the phrase...

Robert, my wonderful, amazing, cool youth pastor, whom I normally completely agree with, suggested, "Sometime this week, we'll probably be going to the ropes course on the property here."

At this point, I felt torn between wanting to slap poor Robert or running to hide.

How dare he offer something like that, I thought. I'm not physical! I have no upper body strength! I'm gonna feel like a total idiot! I'll be standing there the whole time! What's the point of climbing around thirty feet in the air on ropes and cables and whatnot?!

Somehow, I did it.

Yes, after all of my internal complaints, I just climbed up a cargo net (that gave me terrible rope burn and bruises), walked across a bridge made out of two-by-fours (forty feet up), and zip-lined down to the ground (three seconds of which were spent falling straight down). I, Elyse, just did it, and I'm so glad.

Maybe this stands out in my memory because I'm the kind of person who would love to just sit back, be comfortable, and watch extreme sports when...well...never. That's just who I'd accepted myself to be, and I planned on defending that personality trait whenever threatened.

Just doing it made me feel like I could do whatever else I wanted. Maybe it's a good idea for me to stop saying I'll never do something.