Stayin' Alive

A few months ago, a good friend invited me to a very special evening of entertainment. It seems that he had been taking a stand up comedy course and he and his classmates were giving their first performances at a local comedy club. I arrived to find about 400 people jamming the theatre and anticipation was running high. Some were good, some were nervous and some were hilarious. I'm prejudiced, but I think my friend was the best of the lot. I asked what I thought was a pretty obvious question, "Why?"
He gave me a one sentence answer that has stuck with me ever since, "Every year I do something to scare the shit out of myself!" he replied. You've heard the saying - brevity is the soul of wit, but it may be the soul of wisdom too. In 12 words, my buddy had said something that I had needed to write a whole book about. See the link to The West Coast Trail: One Step at a Time found below. I had been doing something similar for a few years. After all, how do we know we are alive unless we challenge ourselves to do something unfamiliar, or even a little scary. I'm not too proud to steal good advice and pass it on but I have decided this year, to incorporate it into my New Year's Resolutions, as well. So now there is a brand new category called, what I'm going to do to scare the crap out of myself. This year I have decided to learn to surf! Besides all of the training, conditioning, balance and strength work, it means that I have to go to Hawaii - my favourite place on this planet - too bad, eh? If there is any pictorial evidence of this auspicious event, I will pass it on in this space. I've got until April to get ready - so does Hawaii.
I have another thought rolling around in my head that I find pretty scary as well, but we'll just have to wait and see if I have the courage.
What will you do this year to scare the crap out of yourself?
How will you know you are alive, if you don't?