Abseiling

I have a fear of heights but the word abseiling makes the activity sound like a breeze. Like sailing. So when I was clasped onto a rope that I was going to do my first abseil on, I realised then how misleading the word was. 

My heart was beating erratically and my whole body went into panic mode. What was I doing?! Normal people do not throw themselves off a cliff! But my pride was on the line as there were onlookers so I started walking backwards, then downwards and then vertically.

It took some time before my body adjusted to the idea of walking down vertically. But when I finally got the hang of it, I started to enjoy myself. I did a little jump down the cliff, followed by another. It was fun!

I realised that with abseiling, you are forced to focus just on your next step. When I thought too much about the descent, I realised that I became more afraid because it seemed so much harder when I tried to strategise my moves. But at the same time, it was empowering. With each descent, I did become more confident and could look down from a height [even if my knees did go weak].

Where's Monnie?

I must say that I have never done such an adventurous outdoors activity. It was thrilling and someone commented that I looked like I was enjoying it. And I was. Got to meet a great bunch of people who were equally as frightened of abseiling but were keen to step out of their comfort zones. And I did some kick-ass rock climbing too. 

Here's to the Adventure Out team!