Over the Edge

I hoped 2011 would be the year I’d get out of my box, away from my comfort zone, into some new adventures. Oh, when will I learn to be careful what I wish for??

A few months ago, some officemates asked if I wanted to participate in Over the Edge, a Special Olympics fundraising event that consists of rappelling down a 32 story building in downtown Raleigh. I thought it sounded fun so I agreed to join in; it wasn’t until people started asking if I was scared that I wondered if maybe they knew something I didn’t. Should I be scared? Should I back out? I gave it serious thought but finally decided that if I walked away from everything that scared me, I’d never try anything new and that would defeat the purpose of my 2011.

Oh, that's a long way up... or down.

So, I found some sponsors and some cheerleaders and Saturday, in the windy cold, we headed toward downtown. As we drove, the butterflies in my belly morphed into pterodactyls but I hoped their wings would come in handy, should the ability to fly become necessary.

When I saw the rappelling harnesses, I instantly felt better. They were just like the ones we’d used for ziplining earlier in the year. My new-found confidence disappeared quite quickly when the equipment manager told me that rappelling was nothing like ziplining. Uh-oh, this isn’t good. But, I already had the free t-shirt so quitting was not an option.

In my very attractive helmet, gloves, and harness, I headed over to the parking deck to practice. After a short tutorial on the equipment and what to do, I was doing it! And it was fun! A one-story rappel, no problem! I’ve got this, or so I thought…

Trial run...

I headed back up to the roof of the Capitol Center. And I made the cardinal mistake- I looked down… way down, to the specks that were people waiting in the courtyard to watch. Uh-oh, maybe Robert was right when he said this wasn’t a great idea. But by then, I couldn’t let a good case of helmet hair go wasted so….

I hooked into my ropes and hopped up on the edge of the building. I heard my cheerleaders screaming, took a deep breath, leaned back until my legs formed a 90 degree angle with the building, and began to walk down the building; no turning back now. I was really doing it!

Over the Edge... the first step is BY FAR the most difficult.

No turning back... this might actually be fun!

Ready to have my feet back on solid ground... very, very ready.

And I did! For 32 stories, I rappelled down a building! There were some moments that I crept along, and some that I cruised a little more quickly than I intended; some where I dangled facing away from the building and some where the wind was blowing me around like the pendulum on a clock. Jessica, the rappeller beside me, and I raced a little… with my dad cheering me on to pass her and my mom sending me subliminal messages that “this is not a race”. Rappelling was fun but to be honest, I was pretty excited to finally get my feet back on the ground.

When I got to the bottom, I found out that my sister-in-law had emailed Robert the live streaming video of my rappel so he was able to watch from the other side of the world. I love that he supports everything I do but I think he’ll be happy to hear that I have no dangling plans for the foreseeable future. J

Over the Edge was a GREAT experience and Special Olympics continues to amaze me with their creativity and ingenuity on fundraising events. From the Polar Plunge where people jumped into freezing water to the Over the Edge where people dangle from a skyscraper, I wonder what they’ll come up with next. I also wonder how much convincing it’ll take to get me to join in on a crazy adventure. Not much, I’m guessing, outside my box is turning out to be a fun place to be. J