Sky Flying, Die Trying

With each extra pull of the belt around my waist the bundle of nerves in my stomach grew. My palms were sweaty as I looked around the boat to the people in front who eagerly volunteered my sister and I to go first. I looked to my right at my sister for reassurance. She looked back at me with a huge smile across her face. Okay I thought to myself, this won't be that bad.

About two weeks before this, my sister saw a brochure to go parasailing in Lake Superior up by Mackinaw Island. She, being the adventure seeking person she is, decided that automatically this was going on our summer bucket list - a list we've made since we were little every summer of things we absolutely had to do. Me, on the other hand, being the cautious, reserved person, I am, immediately began thinking about how high up we would actually be and what if we somehow fell, hitting the water, or what if something failed.

Within seconds I was trying to get her off the idea of going parasailing, but of course it was put onto the summer bucket list, which in our terms meant it was happening and of course alone neither my sister or I made the weight requirement- meaning for one of us to go, we both had to go. As the parasailing day crept closer and closer I became more and more anxious about it. I became worried about how I would feel when I looked down and saw the water, I feared all I would see is how solid the water would become if I was to fall.

With a few more tugs the attendant asked if we were ready to go. Once that little three letter word was said the boat road to life. Slowly my feet began to lift off the back of the boat at the giant sail behind my sister and I filled with air, pulling us up to the sky. Before we knew it, we were easily 100ft above the water, everything around us looked so small. But, once we got up there, I actually began to relax. With each passing second, I began enjoying it more, letting go of the handles on either side of me.

I look to my right to see how my sister is doing. Much to my surprise, I see her white knuckles gripping the handles on either side of her. She had been so excited to go parasailing that she didn't think about how she would feel once she got to the top. On the flip side, I was so worried before coming that I didn't think about how much fun it would be once I got up there.

Parasailing is something I probably never would have tried if my sister hadn't begged me to go with her. Before this experience, I found myself falling into a pretty regular routine, not really taking any chances and trying new things. After going parasailing (which I really didn't think I was going to like) I made more of an effort to try new things.

Trying new things is an important lesson in life as it allows us to expand not only our knowledge in general, but our knowledge about ourselves and who we are as people.