Today was the first full day of my Vertical Caving class. While I have been looking forward to this opportunity since I started college, the actual class has been daunting. Most people would be frightened by the thought of dangling on a rope 150 feet in the middle of a pit. Or they would be afraid of the small, dark spaces filled with itty bitty critters. Me, I embrace the thrill of lowering 100's of feet in minutes and being in mud up to my knees. I get jitters of excitement when I take that last step, leaving the safety of the ledge and hanging freely in the open space.
No, my fears are not the usual dilemmas. I am overwhelmed by the task of learning the skills necessary. More accurately, learning but not remembering when it's "go time." But today my fears were quenched. I spent this Sunday learning from two of the most outstanding men in the sport. Our day consisted of multiple sets of gear, various problem scenarios, and lots of rope. Even though it rained nearly the entire day we were outside learning invaluable skills. As with most of my adventures where I'm nervous just before partaking, once I took the first step and put my gear to the rope I was unstoppable.
As I sit at home now I am looking over my new bruises and feeling the pain of a sore back. I know that tomorrow will be an even earlier start as we head out to the "real world" experience. Today we did training in a backyard, tomorrow we're conquering the cave. Cagles Chasm is a pit that is 186 feet deep. I'm so excited by this new adventure that I doubt my ability to fall asleep tonight. For others my excitement about this, and every other aspect of caving, may seem strange and a bit crazy. But I'm a thrill seeker, always have been. I enjoy the feeling of being scared. Once I conquer an activity I can still have fun doing it, but the thrill is lessened. Therefore I don't receive the same adrenaline rush and I must pursue more exciting, albeit dangerous, adventures.
So as I close out this day in my life I know that my next challenge awaits me when I awake. I pray for safety for myself and all the other students who will be taking on this adventure. As Mark Twain said "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do then by the ones you did do... Explore. Dream. Discover." This has been a dream of mine, I will never have tomorrow again. These are the times in life I will never forget.
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