Facing My Fears

Posted By: Megan Cardarelli
Posted On: October 10th, 2016
Attending: Limerick Institute of Technology

On my last day in Canada with my Limerick IT team I was able to check one more thing off my Bucket List: the CN Tower edge walk.  Standing at 1,168 feet high, it’s the third tallest tower in the world.  If you’re still unfamiliar with it, it’s where drake sits on his album cover of “Views.”   Waking up early that morning, the weather wasn’t looking too promising but myself and two teammates, Amy and Marie, decided to make the hour and a half bus and subway ride into downtown Toronto.  By the time we got there, the rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared.  As soon as I looked up I thought to myself “Wow there is no way I can do this”, but with my enthusiastic teammates by my side we went and bought our tickets.  After about 30 minutes of the instructors going through routine safety checks, we were ready to take the elevator up to the edge walk.  Before I go on, I should let you know I have just a little fear of heights (by little I mean a lot).  I assumed It wouldn’t be even half as scary as the time I went sky diving, but let me tell you I was SO SO wrong.  The nerves really set in when I looked down through the glass floor as we quickly made our way to the top.  The doors opened and we were brought into a room where they rechecked our harnesses, hooked us up to an overhead safety rail, and sent us on our way. 

            As soon as we got out there our instructor had us try a short exercise.  We each were told to walk out and put our toes over the edge. When It was my turn I very slowly inched my way there, or to what I thought was the edge (the video shows I only made it about half way).  Next they had us turn around, lean back and hang off the edge, let go of our hands from the safety harness and give our instructor a double high five.  I only gave one high five at a time which I was still pretty proud of myself for.  15 minutes later, a few exercises more and my heart rate had finally started to slow down.  This is when I actually was able to freely look out and take in one of the most amazing views I had ever seen.   With Lake Ontario and all of Toronto below me, I truly felt a sense of contentment.  From this experience, I learned how fulfilling pushing your personal boundaries and facing your fears can be.  It’s not always easy, but the satisfaction you feel after is well worth it.  Who would have thought that basketball would allow me to spend a year in Ireland, take a trip to Canada with my new team, or even hang off one of the highest towers in the world.  I am forever grateful for where this sport has taken me and for all of the people I’ve met along the way.

 

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

–Eleanor Roosevelt

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