Unthinkable?

Chris Hemsworth aka probably the only guy
who should wear a wet-suit.
source

Two summers ago I did the unthinkable: I wore a wet-suit.

There aren’t many regular folk like me who should wear a wet-suit. If you haven’t experienced this, imagine putting on your wet swimsuit fresh from the washing machine, plus it shrunk. Better yet, imagine crawling inside a deflated yellow balloon. Or maybe imagine those toys that you can add water to and they will expand except it’s the opposite of that and then try to wear that toy as coveralls. Whoa. Anyway, despite the palpable awkwardness it was worth it because (strike another one off the bucket list), I went white-water rafting in the Rocky Mountains!

I even have fond memories. And by fond I mean dread. But good dread. Let me explain. If you haven’t experienced white-water rafting, I will start with this: the first hour is completely awful. Except for the sweat streaming down my back, I wasn’t even wet in that first hour. Heck, I wasn’t even in the raft yet. During the first hour the instructors provide extensive training. And by training I mean this:

1.      Sign this in case you die.

2.      If... [insert Scenario A here], you could die.

3.      If... [insert Scenario B here], you could die.

4.      If... [insert Scenario C here], you WILL die.

5.      Here’s your paddle.

This is not an attempt to discourage anyone. That first hour is obviously the company spiel required for insurance purposes. Sure there’s legitimate risk but as we all know with insurance nowadays, if there’s a chance one might sneeze recklessly then there’s some sort of waiver required.

Anyway, here’s the thing. Once all the death-scenario-izing is over and one’s inner monologue ceases chanting I-am-going-to-die-I-am-going-to-die, once the first set of rapids has been successfully navigated, once one realizes that this rollercoaster on rocks is actually somewhat manageable, something exhilarating happens, something in amongst those sheer blocks of granite along the river that look like they were casually tossed aside by Thor, something underneath those skyscraper cliffs six stories in the air, something in amongst the trees and caves and wildlife many humans never see, something awesome happens: inspiration. It’s like you have superpowers, like you can do anything, ANYTHING. Even wear a wet-suit in public. (But thankfully there are no pictures.)

"Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use." ~Charles Schulz