Courage on the Rope Course
Adam and Hannah 15′ Up!
By Hannah
Last weekend, my family went on vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. The place we went to had the rope course I have been excited about. That was the first thing I wanted to do once we got there. When I got up onto the course, I suddenly remembered why I was scared last time. I went through the whole thing, but I was shaking and had sweaty palms while I was doing it. After I did it once, I figured I was done and didn’t do it much more that day.
The next day, though, my younger brother wanted to give it a shot. My little brother is almost more scared of heights than I am. He doesn’t like big roller coasters, or climbing trees, or any other high activity. I was really surprised to hear that he wanted to try this. He wanted me to go with him, and I said I would.
On the first level, there are two obstacle choices side by side. One was just a wooden plank going horizontally to the next platform, and the other was a rope ladder that you walked across. I went on the rope ladder, and he chose the wooden plank. As we were walking across, his eyes stayed on the plank below him, and he didn’t look up at all. He made it across most of the first level fine, but he started to panic on the second to last obstacle. The obstacle was a bunch of steps going to the next platform. I could see he was panicking, and I felt bad. I expected him to say that he couldn’t do it, and that he wanted to go back. If he had said that, I would have gladly helped him back, and been proud of him for trying. Instead, though, he took a deep breath, and went across.
Adam and Hannah on the rope course.
There’s something so inspiring about seeing someone be terrified of something, and then watching them do it anyway. It makes you feel like you can do anything, too. I felt so happy for him. When he was done with the first level, he went back, but he was smiling. I could tell he was proud of himself.
Watching my brother go across a rope course fifteen feet off the ground was really inspiring. And you know what? I wasn’t scared to do the rest of the course after watching him.
Never forget to face your fears. And who knows? Maybe you’ll help someone face theirs in the process. See you next week!
“Reprinted from Hagel Publications, Inc. dba as Courier Newspapers”