Finally I am over that fear....

Yesterday was an interesting day. I travelled with my son's 8th grade trip to Six Flags north of Chicago. Plans were to go and enjoy the day at Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor. Well, weather being what it is in Illinois, we were looking at a high of 57 degrees and a closed waterpark. And that was not good news for me. I really like water parks and was looking forward to spending most of my time there. Instead I was going to spend all of my say at Six Flags. Not especially good news. I am not a fan of ride attraction theme parks and I have never been a fan of roller coasters and the like as I have been known to get motion sick on rides like this. Mind, you I have never gotten sick on a roller coaster, but more like rides that have repetitive motions like the Tilt-A-Whirl and things like that. But I avoided roller coasters in the past and was thinking that I would be doing the same this day too. WRONG! I was traveling with a fellow parent and friend (Ed) and he enjoys rollercoasters, at least to an extent. I knew that eventually I would have to face the inevitable question of "What ride do you want to go on first?" Responding with "None of them." was not going to be an option. So while looking all of them over very carefully, I agreed to go on the Superman ride, which to my inexperienced eye, looked fairly tame. So, I found my self in line with fellow parent and a couple of other students and prepared myself for something I have not done since I was like 18 years old. I kept telling myself that this will only last about a minute and if I get sick, well, then I would deal with that later. Ed, kept giving me a bit of a rubbing about trying to get me to scream like a girl before the end of the day, so I said we could avoid all this waiting in line and stuff, cause I could scream like a girl right here on the ground. All I needed to know was how loud and how long. (that idea did not work) I must add, I am not afraid of heights, nor am afraid of getting trashed around on things. It is the fear of getting motion sick that bothers me, as when i get motion sick, it really sticks with me for a long time and can make a long day even longer. I was most concerned with getting motion sick and having to sit around the rest of the day, looking green, and feeling like crap. But there I was in the SuperMan ride line and after about 30 minutes of standing in line, I was next in line to get on the damned thing, and realized that I was not nervous anymore. So I sat down, strapped in, and got ready for a ride. 40 seconds later, I returned to my feet, still alive and not feeling sick. And you know what, it was not that bad, as a matter of fact it was actually quite fun for someone who doesn't do that sort of thing and I even managed to go on a few more that day without any ill effects. It was quite nice getting that fear over and done with. I don't have to worry about that anymore. I can join others on rides like this instead of standing around waiting. I still will not be able to do the spinning and twisting rides, nor can I ride in a car backseat for very long without getting sick, but at least I don't have to bypass roller coaster rides anymore. Now, if I can just convince my son that they won't kill him, maybe he can get over his fear too.

Later!