The Confidence Course

6 Feb 09

We went to the Confidence Course this morning, all decked out in our "battle rattle" and "sniffle gear" (which is what you wear when it's really cold out). It was in the 30's when we left the dorm in formation, but it did warm up to the mid 40s (which actually felt pretty good). I guess I'm getting used to it!

The Confidence Course is designed to test your physical and mental skills. Most of the activities out there are individual in nature (such as going down the rope or the zip line, or climbing the tall ladder-thing, but some of them forced us to work in teams to get over or around a physical object (such as a tall wall). We actually ran out of time and did not get to do every activity, which was unfortunate because it was a lot of fun. That really is me going down the zip line, and I'm the guy on the right climbing over the ladder to come down the other side. That one was a little scary because you're not wearing a safety belt up there. One missed step and you fall 40 feet or more. I've never been afraid of heights, but your perspective changes when you're looking down (rather than up). In other words, it looked kind of easy when my feet were planted on the ground. It was a different thing altogether when I reached that top rung of the ladder and had to swing over it and then look down for my next footing.

But how can you get past your fears if you don't face them head on? In some ways, that's what we did today. (Not to mention, it was great to get out of the classroom for a change).