Taking a Leap of Faith

As part of a team-building exercise yesterday, I climbed atop a 40-foot pole and stood on a 1ft x 2ft board. I then waited for Baltazar, another team member to climb up that wobbly pole, and helped him onto that tiny, shaky board with me. Gripping onto each other, we found our balance on the pole and leapt forward, grabbing onto a trapeze about 8ft away. I reached the trapeze, while Baltazar didn't and hurtled downwards. This was mostly because I'm much taller than Baltazar, but that was besides the point of the exercise.

Earlier on, as I stood listening to our instructor describing the exercise, it sounded like good fun. I was sympathetic when I saw the four people who went ahead of me looking scared, although I laughed at them. But I was confident I had the mental toughness to just get up there take my leap of faith, hang on to the trapeze and get lowered down with my pride intact.

Halfway up the pole, my face replaced its smile with a look of mild concern. By the time I reached the top of the pole and felt it swaying gently back and forth, I knew I was in trouble. "Erm...I'm sorry guys, but I think I'm going to climb down now," I considered whining out. But the thought of being the first person unable to climb on the board was unbearable. Instead, I muttered a string of expletives to myself and reached for the board. This was the most terrifying moment in my life. I heaved my ass onto the board and started thinking of how best to get my feet on the board without toppling over. Cue expletives. Finally, amidst the encouraging shouts of my teammates, in one sweeping movement, I hoisted my but up in the air and planted my feet on the board. Exhilaration!

If that was hard, waiting up there alone, 11 metres from solid ground, as Baltazar climbed up, shaking the pole even more, was unbearable. I recall flirting with the idea of jumping off the board long before he reached me. Somehow, though, I persisted through my fear and quaking knees.

The objective of the exercise was to foster a team spirit, and to take ourselves out of our comfort zones. I certainly went way outside my comfort zone, but I also think these events laid a solid foundation for bringing us together as teammates.