My “comfort zone” is something that I have struggled with throughout most of my life. As a generally nervous, clumsy, and sensitive introvert, I have always had a problem stepping outside my comfort zone and trying new things.

Growing up, I would not try a variety of physical activities because they absolutely terrified me. For example, I only tried skiing a couple of times ever (and cried through most of it). I always have refused to try ice skating or roller skating because I feared I would just make a fool out of myself. I have never taken time in the 20 years I have been on Earth to ride a bike because I never learned at a young age and the concept of riding one now makes me nervous. There was even a time in my life where I refused to play basketball because I might jam my fingers while catching or dribbling the ball. Thankfully, that last one died out a long time ago. I love basketball.

Watching other children doing the same activities did not pressure me to conform to what they were doing. Watching them only made me feel weak and gutless. To this day, I experience the same feelings, and although these feelings may make you feel alone and cowardly, I am sure everyone has the same feelings about something else in their lives. I heavily experienced these feelings during a recent trip to Greek Peak Adventure Challenge Course in Cortland, NY.

Greek Peak offers a variety of outdoor challenge activities and attractions. There is a mountain coaster that speeds in between trees at whatever speed the rider chooses to go at. There is a zip line tour that takes people to four different zip lines throughout the park. There are also bungee swings, a crash mat called “the leap of faith,” laser tag, and much more. It is a great place to visit, but one of the attractions that my school group was signed up for was the ropes course.

I had visited a smaller version of Greek Peak up in the Adirondack Mountains five-or-so years ago. My friend and I really went for the zip lining, but we had to go through training on harnesses and walk through a mini ropes course before we could go on any zip lines. Zip lining has never bothered me at all, but I remember that I struggled with even the mini ropes course. Even though there is no actual danger due to being harnessed in, I could not deal with the shaking obstacles that people have to climb through. Even though I was not going to get hurt if I fell, I was intensely scared of falling because I had no idea how I would get back up. I am lacking on upper body muscles to pull me up onto anything. I remember I hated that ropes course and every time I look at a ropes course now I just feel nervous.

Imagine my thrill when I saw the giant ropes course that loomed over Greek Peak’s parking lot like a long, dark shadow. It looked absolutely terrifying to me. Memories from my past rope course experience flooded into my mind and the smile vanished from my face.

However, I made a deal with myself that I would not let those feelings bother me. I told myself, right then and there, that I would try the basic level of the ropes course, and if I felt confident enough, I might do the next level. For that moment, I just set a reasonable goal of doing the simplest part.

The ropes course was not scheduled for my group until the end of the day, so I had a great day with team building challenges, the mountain coaster (so much fun, could have ridden it 20-plus times), and the zip line tour. When it was time to do the ropes course, I still had the same feelings, but I went for it.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a comfort zone, it simply means the point in a social or physical activity where you feel the most comfort. At the challenge course, the mountain coaster and zip lines were within my comfort zone, but the ropes course was a very different story. There are three levels to the ropes course in order from easiest to hardest: green, blue, and black. The green was a little outside of the comfort zone, the blue was pushing it, and the black was a very hard “maybe.”

I went through and survived the green zone, even though some of the elements, or strips of obstacles, were really unenjoyable. However, when I finished the green level, I felt comfortable enough to try the blue zone, which was much higher up that the green. I am so happy that I chose to do the blue zone because it was more fun that the green ones, with the exception of a rope bridge that was so unsteady it took me nearly ten minutes to get across and almost resulted in me falling off twice.

After completing the blue zone, I looked up at the black. Believe it or not, I did not feel terrified to do the black level. It actually looked pretty doable to me, but I heard the instructor telling others that it required a lot of upper body strength. I decided that I was probably too tired to make it through and quit while I was ahead. The important thing was that I challenged myself to go outside my comfort zone and I had a ton of fun doing it.

I saw others that were struggling just as much, or even worse, than I was. My girlfriend had a hard time with everything that Greek Peak offered for attractions, and yet she tried them all. She knew that her comfort zone was relatively small and that at least trying all of the activities would be a good baseline challenge for her. She made it through all of them and despite her saying she would not want to go back, I still think she had fun.

To this day, I still do not roller skate or ice skate. I still have never found time to learn how to ride a bike. I do not care for skiing, but I think I would not mind trying it again, or trying snowboarding for the first time. As for skating and biking, I now realize that it is going to require me stepping out of my comfort zone to learn how to do these things. I know it may scare me, and I will fall a couple of times, but I am excited to push my comfort zone more and try new things. After the ropes course, I know that I can accomplish anything that seems a little scary or impossible to me.

The next time you are faced with an activity that you are uncomfortable with, consider pushing past your comfort zone. Set a small baseline goal that would be pushing your limits just a little. Who knows. You might still hate what you are doing. You might love what you are doing and set a new goal. One thing is for sure: there is no harm in trying.