Go Ape In Life

I attended a Go Ape session the other day (highly, excuse the pun, recommended) http://www.goape.co.uk  and found how many analogies there were to how life works as I went round the course.  Go Ape is a high wire forest adventure course of rope bridges, tarzan swings and zip slides... all set high up in the tree tops.

• The first thing above all else, be present and focused at all times – thinking about anything else other than where you’re at right now will only bring you upsets, and possible pain.
• Focus on your task in hand, it really doesn’t pay to be looking around at what others are doing as it will be detrimental to your experience, and this is your experience, no two people are the same so every one will tackle their obstacles differently.
• Put one foot in front of the other, thinking about the whole event in it’s entirety can be overwhelming and may stop you from even starting.  One step at a time is also the fun of it, if you focus only on the end you miss the experience and the experience is really why you signed up for this adventure in the first place.
• Know that as long as you have paid attention and are doing what you know to be the right things then you will reach your goal, once you step off towards it you are on your way and there’s no point in turning round once you’ve made the effort to go.
• When you need to step off in to the unknown you have to do just that step off and endeavour to enjoy the ride.  You can stand there and procrastinate and think of every which way you can do this but at the end you still just have to take the leap of faith and jump in to it.  It’s the same for everyone no matter who you are and what your worries/issues are we all still have to just let go and jump.
• The good news is once you’ve jumped you’re on your way.  The ride may be fun, scary or both but it means you’re moving forward and there’s nothing quite like that feeling.  You’re chuffed that you actually did it and you’ve now got the excitement of what’s next, and when you’re moving and focused on moving forward there’s no space left in your mind for anything negative, it gets drowned out.
• And then that great little added extra, apart from the great experience you’ve just had.  When you’ve made it through and out the other side, you know that you are now a little different, a bit better equipped for whatever comes next and you can be truly proud of yourself and what you just did, not matter how long it took you and how many hurdles you overcame, you did it and that is yours to keep with you forever.

So…. Go Ape and then Go Ape.

Have a good one

Dxxx