The Only Fear You Have to Overcome Is Getting the Nerve to Do It

2012:

My oh my. I am so excited for you.

When I went to bed on New Years Eve (somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 a.m., as text messages prove I was still functioning at that time), I had drank enough and danced enough and climbed over one fence enough to forget that my plans in the very quickly approaching morning were to jump in the Mon. At 8:30 a.m.

(Yikes.)

Honestly, when my alarm went off at 7:50 a.m., I had really forgotten why I had set an alarm for so early. It wasn't till I looked at my phone and read the "alarm reminder" I had set (amazingly, this was a task I was able to complete before passing out), and it said: RIVER!!!!!

So I stumbled out of bed, found some acceptable river-jumping clothes, and met up with my fellow river-jumpers outside on Gross Street.

We got down to the Mon Wharf and parked. It was a BEAUTIFUL Pittsburgh morning. Sunny, clear, warm. We found a spot and recapped our evenings, as we had all spent New Years Eve at separate parties and gatherings.

The river-jumpers: Yigit, Eric, Georgiana, Corey, Me, and Carrie

Seriously, the morning could not have been more beautiful.

But that nice weather changed to gray skies and then a slight drizzle started, and then, minutes before the jump, it basically started to pour. We shook it off and started disrobing. We took our spots on the edge of the river. We counted down from ten.

10, 9, 8...

7, 6, 5, 4...

3, 2, 1!

JUMP!

This was my second New Years Day river-jump. I started off 2011 by doing the same idiotically fun activity. When my body hit the icy water this year, I remember having the same immediate feeling of confusion. The water is so cold and, at that point in the year, being submerged in water is not something you've been doing a lot of. My mind kind of went blank until I realized what I had just done and started figuring out my next move: getting out of the river.

Last year, I struggled to lift myself out from the water. Someone on the wharf pulled me up and out. This year was different. I pulled myself up and out.

2011 was an insanely difficult year for me. It will always be marred by losing my mom, which threw me into a real spell of sadness and gloominess. With the help of friends and family, I made it to the end of 2011 intact (even after getting hit by a car on the last Tuesday of the year while riding home from work...). I'm ready for the challenges I know I'll face this year (her birthday, my birthday, the one-year anniversary of her death), but I'm also ready for a fresh start.

A lot of years I make resolutions in order to become "a better version of me." This year, I want to just continue being the person I have become. I want to stay hungry for adventure. I want to stay foolish and keep discovering. I'm so excited for 2012.

IN OTHER NEWS:

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