Thursday Thirteen v1.0

This is my first attempt at a Thursday Thirteen post, so let me know if I've done something stupid? For someone who works in technology I can be quite stupid ...

Thirteen Things I have done that scare me We've all heard that saying "Do one thing each day that scares you" I'm running a bit behind on that, but I'm sure I can muster up 13 things ... 1. I got married. I don't regret a single of of my (still short) married life, but it was a scary decision to make. But so worth it! 2. I jumped of an 18 metre cliff into the sea. Small fry for some folks, but I'm not especially fond of heights, and I swim sorta like a brick. But I battle to turn down a dare, so on a cold and windy day, egged on by an ex-boyfriend, I took that leap. I was not at all ready for how fast free fall actually is. I imagine I spent my entire decent clawing onto the air around me trying to slow myself down. It didn't help one bit, but it did mean that I hit the water with arms outstretched and bruised from my wrists to my armpits on both arms. It took a couple of weeks for the bruises to go away. And boy was that water cold! I thought I was gonna freeze into a Popsicle right there and bob up and down in the water till someone came to fetch me ... 3. I rode a motorcycle. After a few years of being the passenger, I plucked up the courage and booked myself on a beginners course. I can't remember the moment I first went solo on the riding school's bike, but I can remember my first solo moment on my own bike. Wow! a great workout for my little heart muscle. 4. I took a walk around my folks block. At 2 AM. It's a rural area, I was alone and 16 years old. I thought it'd be a good way to test my bravery. I took two dogs and off I went. After the first couple hundred meters I could no longer back out with my pride in tact, so I continued at a pace that I thought was suitably authoritative, and not too fast as to leave me with no energy to run away if needed. I made it home okay, but ultimately, a midnight jaunt without telling anyone on a 2km block with roughly 5 street lights, this was not a bright thing to do. 5. I jumped my horse 1.35meters. I have a horse, his name is Dartmoor, and I bought him off the race track 5 years ago. I've been retraining him as a show-jumper since then, not always with the greatest success. But he has great technique and lots of talent, so I persevere with him. I remember the day I put his jumps up 15 cm higher than usual and trusted him to actually go over them. It was a great feeling and such a sense of achievement. Now we just need to get around to doing that in competition. 6. I stayed at home alone. Not a biggie anymore, but the first night that my Hunny went away after we were married terrified me. I slept with the lights on. 7. I started a new job. I have started more than one job, and it still scares me every time. Probably because I have never just changed companies, I seem to change expertise also, and for me, not knowing what I am doing is a very scary thing 8. I bridge jumped. Also at night. It was on a camp I went on as a teenager, we had a night time adventure obstacle course. All the activities we did (crossing rivers, abseiling etc) were in the dark, but jumping of a bridge into a darkness was scariest. I was picturing myself swinging straight down into a tree or something. 9. I took my dad to hospital to have a tumour removed from his bladder. It was the first time I realised my dad is mortal. The role reversal was tough for both of us. 10. I was a table leader at our church Christianity Explored course. It's a course we run twice a year for people to come and find out and ask questions about Christianity and what it means to be a Christian. I felt totally out of my depth, I am by no means an expert on the Bible. I'm doing my third stint as table leader now, and it's easier, but still frightening. I just have to keep telling myself that it's not about me at all. 11. I let go of my horse. I hadn't fallen of a horse in quite a while, and the less often you fall, the scarier it becomes. I became unseated at a jump -I was hanging half under his tummy - and had to make the decision to fall off completely before my horse attempted the next jump that we were cantering towards. Gotta say that my fingers were a little slow on responding to the 'open' command. 12. I woke up behind the wheel driving up and embankment and towards a tree. This was not a conscious decision to scare myself, but it was a great lesson. I should never ever drive when I'm tired. I will fall asleep. 13. I started a blog. And posted some entries. I have put my thoughts on display to the world. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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