Terrifying Things I’ve Done (and been glad I did)

As opposed to terrifying things that have happened to me, which is an entirely different list and thankfully much shorter.

1. The IMPACT self-defense class. You know, the one where the guy dresses up in full body padding and pretends to attack you, choke you and does sit on you, holding you down? That one. It’s at the top of the list because I think it is THE most terrifying thing I have ever done–show up day after day to willingly put myself in a vulnerable situation to learn what to do in a real-life attack.
2. Shown my writing to other people. Every time terrifies me.
3. Go to a trapeze class. Everything about it: climbing the shaky ladder, jumping off the platform, hurtling through the air, LETTING GO of the bar and falling.
4. Tell someone something they didn’t want to hear and I didn’t want to say.
5. Tell my secrets.
6. Get married.
7. Study abroad for a year in college.
8. Travel alone through Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and India.
9. Quit my job to become a freelancer.
10. 10 years later quit freelancing for a job.
11. Go to couples counseling and really working on my relationship.
12. Public speaking–teaching a class, leading a workshop, giving speeches, heck, even asking a question in a crowded auditorium.

So what have you done that terrified you?