For this year’s Positivity Blog, I chose to experience “open your mind and get out of your comfort zone” because we only live once! 2020 was a doozy of a year, but a year that I was able to shift to a positive frame of mind. Happiness is a mood; positivity is a frame of mind. I first heard this phrase when netlogx introduced the 2021 Positivity initiative and it has stuck with me throughout the year. Often in various situations I would think of all that could go wrong and chose not to try something new because of these reservations. Throughout this year I have chosen to focus on the positive outcomes that arise when trying new things out of my comfort zone.

Anyone who knows me well would agree that I love to have fun and I enjoy traveling, but I am not much of a risk taker/adventure seeker. Luckily my daughters, 11 and 7, inherited their adventure gene from their father. Costa Rica has always been a place on my travel bucket list. In May of 2020 I was supposed to travel to the Bahamas to celebrate a friend’s milestone 40th birthday. However, COVID came without warning and our travel plans were canceled leaving us with travel credit to use by end of 2021. With the global pandemic still in full swing and our unused travel credit my family decided to travel to Costa Rica this past October which also happened to be during my birthday.

While in Costa Rica my husband and daughters wanted to go ziplining. I have been ziplining before, but this excursion entailed a one-mile-long superman style which made my stomach jump to my throat just thinking about it. Beyond scared was an understatement! However, watching my seven-year-old who just barely met the minimum weight requirement go was enough motivation for me. As she zipped away at an alarming speed, I realized I had no choice but to follow her. Opening my mind and leaving my comfort zone was not only scary but exhilarating. I am not sure I would do that again, but it gives me the reassurance that going out of my comfort zone increases my confidence of what can go right and be fun.

ziplining in Costa Rica