Hey! Y’all remember this post ????  Well, we finally rescheduled our ziplining trip back in June!  *backflip and toe touch*

I thoroughly enjoyed myself…although my friends and I only got a chance to complete 4 out of the 12 zips due to a lightning storm.  :-(  We decided to go back a little later this summer or early fall and make it an overnight trip to include white-water rafting next time.   I hadn’t planned on blogging about the trip since most of you saw our video clip on Facebook, but last night I tweeted this:

” Hmmm…just realized that “TACO! NO BURRITO!” technique I learned while ziplining is also a great #LifeLesson.  #laverdad”

First off, let me tell y’all that ziplining is the BEST!!!! If you haven’t tried it yet, you.are.missing.out.on.LIFE!!!! I have to admit that I was a tad apprehensive in the beginning, but by the time I got the hang of it – I took the lines like a champ. Now back to my regularly scheduled epiphany (stay with me):

Here was our safety equipment:

Similar to our very existence, we are all given a set of physical equipment to work with. We have no idea whether or not this equipment will “work” when put to the test, but judging from previous adventurers’ experiences we tend to trust in its abilities. I know that for me personally, I was tad more challenged than the others, seeing as how I was just had my wisdom tooth extraction on Thursday.  It was only Saturday and I was still high on meds.  :-/ My natural instincts were a little “delayed” (to say the least) so I put my faith into the equipment (and the fact that no one had died within the ONE MONTH that the facility had been in business O_o).

First thing was the instruction zip. Best piece of advice given? “TACO!! NO BURRITO!!!!” I know that those of you who have seen the clip and my accompanying FB and Twitter statuses have wondered “Da hayle?” Well, it is the actual zip lining control function. When you’re on the line, you are flying at full speed…but that speed is completely controlled by the movement of your left hand. In the “taco” position (hand cupped – barely touching the cord) you slow yourself down. In the “burrito” position, your hand is completely clenched (which causes you to immediately brake…jolting back and forth).

When you’re on the course, moving at full speed – human nature screams at your brain to “SLOW DOWN!!!! BRAKE IMMEDIATELY!!!!” That’s good, right? WRONG on a zip course. Imagine me…going full speed with this theme song in my head:

SoJo of the Jungle (watch out for that TREE!!!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fB0tv31-ys]

Yeah, as I was headed full speed towards that tree, I “burritoed” like hell! LOL!!!! But that caused me to come to a screeching, neck-snapping halt in the MIDDLE of the zipline…which meant that I had to self-rescue *shudder*.

Self-rescue is when you have to manually spin yourself around while suspended mid-air, lay your body flat while upside down and pull yourself hand over fist to the next stop….while you’re a million feet off of the ground.  O_o  A LOT more trouble than its worth to simply glide and “taco” yourself slowly to your next destination.

It took me burritoing twice out of fear for me to realize that I was making life a LOT harder for myself by operating from a place of fear. So on my last zip (number 4 out of 12 – remember we had to abort because of the lightning storm), I let out a primal yell and let loose.  I was going so fast that the old me SHOULD have been scared but I wasn’t. Raindrops were pelting my face, but I didn’t want the experience to be over. I almost forgot to “taco”…but I did just in time. My REAL instinct kicked in (the one from the Divine place, not the fearful one). And I effortlessly climbed onto the our final ledge.

My last zip…my Life Lesson

I didn’t make the connection until last night (probably because I was still pissed that we didn’t get a chance to do all twelve), but I’ve been “BURRITOing” all my life. I was born with equipment that I am supposed to instinctively trust, my life journey is the pathway, but I have BURRITOed like hell. I automatically clinch my fists around the zip when things feel too good or go to fast. I always think that I’m going to crash into the next destination and injure myself.

But that instinctive “burritoing” always causes me to abruptly halt mid-journey…and I constantly find myself in a cycle of self-rescue (flipping over backwards and pulling myself hand over fist to my next destination). LIFE isn’t supposed to be that way. It DOESN’T have to be that way. The zips are exciting and they are more fun when you trust them…and trust your ability to TACO…pace yourself…feel the rhythm of the zip…keep moving…and gently land at your next destination with enough strength to eagerly anticipate the next zip.