Overcoming My Fears

The time has come. You sit in your seat and put your safety belts on. Hearts pounding, pulses racing, you don't know what to anticipate. Suddenly you're slowly moving away from the entrance—this isn't so bad.

Suddenly you feel a rise. Slowly you are being elevated, as you look to the side, you realize you are way up in the air. You look down and panic strikes. Will I fall? What if my safety belt breaks? What if I get stuck?

Just then you fall—don't worry though, you're safe. Your heart feels like it's going to jump out of your chest so you close your eyes and scream for dear life. Slowly you reach the bottom, you open your eyes and all is well...until you are flipped over for a few times.

First Thrill

Summer of '05 I went on vacation with my family in California and Vegas. We decided to go to Disneyland since we were there.

Since everyone was good with going on thrill rides, I was the only one that hadn't gone on a roller coaster. Now I could be the only one that doesn't go on and watch everyone else have fun, or I could overcome my fears and take that chance. So I did.

The first ride was the Tower of Terror.

You walk inside and get the creepy tour guide, who walks you around the hotel telling you about the creepy story about what happened that fateful night. So far not that bad, it wasn't that scary.

Continuing on, we went into the elevator which was the actual ride. We sat in our seats and as the door closed, you could actually see yourself looking like a ghost—pretty darn cool.

It started to rise up and when it reached up high, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal the whole theme park. Wow, we were really high. Funny thing was, I was never afraid of heights, I was just afraid of falling to my death. That's all.

Suddenly, you felt a little fall, OK not that bad. Why oh why did I open my mouth. The elevator dropped fast. I started to laugh and scream at the same time, maybe that was just my adrenaline rushing so I closed my eyes and continued to scream.

Suddenly the elevator stopped. I opened my eyes and realized that the ride was over. I survived—yay. I laughed when I saw my photo from the ride but at least I didn't look goofy. Now on to the next thrill ride.

After a few rides, it was time to ride this bad boy. When we first got there, I saw it and said it's not that bad. Everyone was excited about going on there so I had no choice which to say—Sure I'll go on it too.

There I was standing face to face with this bad boy. At first, I was a little nervous while I was waiting in the line. Finally, it was our turn and there was no turnaround. It was now or never.

I sat down and they put our safety belts on. It was pretty secure, so I wasn't as nervous. I looked around and saw how everyone was so excited. I just smiled at my family and sucked up my fears, and then the ride began.

I was fine until the ride started to climb. The good thing was that I was not afraid of heights, only now I was out in the open really high up and worried about what if the ride gets stuck?

Suddenly we fall down and just like the tower, I started laughing and yelling at the same time, but then the ride was actually not that bad as I thought. I mean, I wasn't the only one on this ride. There were so many other people on this ride with me so what's the worst that could happen?

As the ride finally came to a stop, I got off a whole new person. I was very proud of myself that I was able to withstand it without crying or anything like that.

I walked away from there like a boss. Two days later I found out that very same ride had an issue and people were stuck. Wow was I thankful it didn't happen to me on that day, although I felt really bad for those that got stuck. Must have been pretty scary up there.

For the Future

Since my vacation, I have been more open to thrilling experiences and not afraid anymore to go on weird rides. I even want to try skydiving. That would be totally awesome. I think it's all in our heads, this fear. I say—just laugh at fear, then you will be fine. On to the next thrill ride.