Unfamiliar Situations That Change Are Lives - A Writing Prompt

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This is one of the prompts I got at writing group today: [/b]Write of a time in your life when you found yourself in a very unfamiliar situation or place and how it shaped your life at that time.[b] I pondered this and found myself writing a preamble before I responded to the actual prompt. This is what I wrote: Isn't every step through our early years a step into the unfamiliar? From grade school to high school; from high school to college; from college to the business/working world, from friendship to love; from love to marriage, from marriage to parenthood? Everything is unfamiliar and new as we venture through life making changes in vocation or geography. Until you may possibly get to where I am now - every day the same, going nowhere, not meeting new people, alone in the world with a family of workers and venturers (someone objected to this stating that what I do online with live streaming is unfamiliar and new every time I do it. They're right). To pick one unfamiliar place or situation that changed my life would be choosing from an encyclopedia of my life. But choose one I will. The CN Tower Edge Walk was my first real step outside my comfort zone. The summer this adventure opened in Toronto my daughter and I immediately signed up. Surprisingly the only time I felt nervous was on the subway heading downtown. I blamed it on the ride itself because I hadn't been on a train in years and travel usually made me nauseous. Once at the CN Tower I really didn't feel nervous. I was excited to be taking a step - not necessarily out of my comfort zone, more like a step on the wild side. In the locker room where my daughter and I and four other people prepared to suit up for the walk on the ledge of the CN Tower high in the sky, I was laughing and making jokes noticing that the others were extremely quiet. Quiet with fear it seemed, which is I guess why I rambled on with jokes trying to allay their fears. No pieces of jewelry or hair pieces were to be worn. Something tiny from a fall that high could severely injure someone on the sidewalk below. A newly married couple refused to remove their wedding bands so Band-aids were taped around them. We all were scanned for metals - not just jewelry or change but even possible bombs. We also had to undergo breathalizers. Our belongings were placed in a locker. Our locker keys clipped on to a lanyard which was then clipped through a hole in the back of our jumpsuits. Eye glasses were also hooked securely to the eyelet. On top of our jumpsuits we were suited up with safety gear that was then attached to an overhead line leading us outside. This was my very first venture to the extreme... and only a few years ago. Others were so nervous once they stepped out on the ledge and saw the city of Toronto stretched out in front and below, they couldn't follow through with the instructor's exercises in leaning out over the ledge. My fears were not at the forefront of my mind because I knew we were firmly secure. My thoughts turned to "I paid a hundred and fifty bucks for this, I'm not wasting it or walking away having regretted not taking that step." The experience was exhilarating. How did it change me? I walked away with no regrets and a desire to do more. Skydiving, zip-lining, parasailing followed, and I still want more. It's not so much about DOING the extreme, but about not being afraid to. And experiencing something I never dreamed I would want to or get to do. There is a great big world out there and I want to see and experience it all. ~~~~~~ This prompt was written in 20 minutes. I could have said a whole lot more but I already wrote about the whole Edge Walk experience a couple of years ago in another post. This was my response to the question about finding yourself in unfamiliar situations. As I said at the top, we find ourselves in unfamiliar situations all the time. Some are more extreme than others. Some are more life changing than others, but every day brings a new challenge, a new adventure, new thoughts and ideas. Let's not waste them. Let's not overlook them. Enjoy the good moments and learn from the not-so-good ones.