Last week we travelled to an adventure park in sunny Portugal with our friends. As someone who hasn’t managed to master the art of swimming and afraid of heights, I visit these venues with a sense of excitement and an oversized feeling of fear. Nonetheless something inside me pushes me on. As a “motivational speaker” I need to walk the talk or so it is claimed.

Furthermore the fact that my son Conor wasn’t initially up for the challenge required me to dig deep and lead by example. In contrast, we were in the presence of a family of adrenaline junkies who knew no fear which helped in a strange way.

On arrival, I decided there was no time to hang around overthinking so within a few minutes, we were in the queue for the Rollercoaster. The queue was the difficult part as you entertained all possible scenarios in your head. The rollercoaster experience itself was exhilarating – frightening but exhilarating. Walking off it we felt on top of the world and proceeded with the help of our 8-year-old guide and his Dad to complete the tour of fear.

Walking past the rollercoaster, my “friend” informed me that when it descends into the water for the final time, there is a camera on it that takes pictures of the crowd on the bridge awaiting its arrival. So he suggested I stand on the bridge, and wave as it arrived. I know most of you are already bent over laughing at my stupidity! I waited for the rollercoaster and SPLASH – no picture but a memory that will last a lifetime. Adrian, my buddy was now on top of the world and I, though I had been humiliated, could not stop laughing for the day.

Life truly is an adventure park.