Something Uncomfortable: Day 157

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingUncomfortableSteppingFromFearToFreedom

Hamm is one of my former youth group kids who has become a part of our family. She’s like one of our kids. And even though she’s 23, our kids think she is one of their peers. We love our Hamm! (Her real name is Margaret… it’s a long story.)

Hamm asked me to go on some of the big rides with her at the fair today. Adam was with us and was willing to manage the kids, so I agreed.

When I was a kid, I LOVED rides. Roller coasters, spinning rides, water rides, whatever I could find, I rode. My back and neck issues have slowed me down over the past several years. And my increasing fear of heights and vertigo have made me eliminate them altogether. So this seemed like an appropriate Something Uncomfortable for the day.

Guess which ride she chose? This thing:

It’s called the “Freak Out.” I now know why.

I did fairly well while it was spinning near the ground in the beginning. But when the swaying started, things went south quickly. Because that wasn’t bad enough, it then started spinning again… as it swayed… almost to the point of being upside down. I prayed to Jesus a lot… and out loud. And apparently I was very entertaining. Pretty sure I made the carnie’s day. But I’m cool with that. I would have laughed at me too.

Ready for the really awesome part? I thought I was going to throw up for a solid three hours after we landed. And I still have a slight headache. OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!!!!!!

So I’ve learned a few things from the Freak Out:

1. I have a hard time distinguishing between something that is appropriately uncomfortable and something that is just a bad idea.
2. I clearly CANNOT ride rides anymore.
3. They name rides appropriately… consider them a warning.

In spite of the awfulness that I experienced today, I am really glad I did it. It’s that better we found this out now than at Six Flags when we are far away from home. And I now know that there is a reason why my gut has been telling me that my body is done with the big rides. But hey, Wiggle Worm, I’m heading your way tomorrow… or maybe I’ll stick to the train.

Would you have ridden it?

Something Uncomfortable: Day 123

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We went to the waterpark today. Someone I don’t know started talking to me. This is normally uncomfortable for me, but it’s especially awkward when I’ve got the grumpies. Apparently the Sepia had started working and I was able to manage talking to her. She was really nice. I’m glad she approached me.

My daughter thought it would be fun to watch Mommy go down one of the big slides. I haven’t been on a slide in years. I was on the swim team in high school, so the water isn’t the problem. My fear of heights has gotten increasingly worse through the years. The last time I climbed the stairs to go down a slide, I got dizzy, nearly passed out and was told by the lifeguard to walk down the stairs – awesome. 

Today I went down the medium slide that is on top of a hill. I was a little nervous, but had fun. And my kids thought I was so cool! Maybe I can work up the courage to climb the stairs before the summer is over…

Since my daughter asked me to go on a slide, I asked her to go under the mushroom waterfall. She agreed as long as I went with… I took off my glasses and off we went. She thought it was so much fun that I had a hard time getting her away from it.

Not bad for a day with the grumpies!

What fear do you need to face today?

Something Uncomfortable: Day 23

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What do you do when the forecast calls for rain in the middle of spring break? If you are boring-hermit-mom, you stay at home and get chores done. BUT if you are super-cool-adventurous-mom, you arrange to have a playdate at the children’s museum that is about an hour away from home. Guess which mom I chose to be this week. That’s right… super-cool-adventurous-mom!

Why is this such a big deal? Because my children are 3 & 5 years old and the biggest adventure we have gone on without Dad or an aunt to help has been to go to the chiropractor that is 20 minutes from home. Seriously.

My son was SUPER sick the entire first year of his life. He threw up all day, every day. Allowing him to cry just made the situation worse… so we never allowed him to cry. Traveling in the car was nothing short of torturous, so we tried to avoid it at all costs. And ever since, I have lived under the assumption that traveling is just too hard to try.

I am SOOOOOO glad we went today. The kids had a blast. The car rides there and back went so well that I’m thinking there will be a lot more adventures in our near future.

The highlight of the day – and the thing that brought on the most anxiety – was the “tree” in the middle of the museum that my kids climbed ad nauseam (both figuratively and literally). This thing went from the first floor up to the ceiling of the second floor. I became woozy just looking at it…

As my children conquered their own fears by mastering the beast, I had to continually remind myself that someone would have torn it down if people had died on it or had gotten seriously hurt on it. How cool is it that by allowing myself to be uncomfortable, I allowed my children to learn to overcome what frightens them? And that, my friends, is what this whole thing is about. I want my children to learn to be people that rise above life’s challenges and not to be people who succumb to their fears.

So with that I say, “Go Team Schneider!” Because today was an awesome day.