Fighting Fear

There was a time in my life when I was fearless. Then I almost died.
Climbing a mountain near Nelson I almost fell of a cliff and since then I've had a fear of heights. When I let Ryan know this, he laughed and told me in delight all his wonderful times bungee jumping. He assured me that if there was one in Nepal we were going to do it.

And whatdya know, there was a bungee jump in Nepal. One of the highest in the world.

So we went.

A bridge suspended 300 meters over a canyon was to be the spot for me to risk my life. I hate these bridges. The one with slates so you can see the roaring river hundreds of feet below. Every time someone stepped on the bridge it would shake and my heart would race.

We were weighed and separated into two groups. I watched as a 13 year-old girl threw herself with no fear off the bridge. After watching this over and over again, with no deaths, my confidence was up. We took a break and then the second group was to start. Me and 7 other guys who weighed over 70 kilos walked the plank.
I was the first to go.
They tied my feet and stuck a camera in my face and asked how I was doing.
I smiled, hiding my fear. The man winked at me giving me the sign that everything was ready. I stepped across the barrier, leaving nothing but a small slab of steel between me and the air. I looked down and saw the raging river.
"Don't do it." The man in my head was firm.
"Hands up." The man behind me ordered.
"3, 2" As he counted I said a last goodbye to the world. What if something happened? Something could happen. Anything could happen. Things happen all the time.
"1, Bungee!"
I jumped
It all went so quickly. I screamed as my body flew towards the ground. The river was coming fast, I was sure I would smash into the ground.
And whahahg, up I went again, and down, and then hung there. It was over. I had lived.
As the men brought me down I broke into laughter.
The first thing I thought was that was way to quick. The second thing was I have to go sky diving.