Adrenaline Junkies

I am actually a pretty big scaredy-cat. I don't like heights. Large bodies of water with unknown predators lurking beneath send me into a panic attack and I also may have screamed at my own reflection a time or two. I'm sure a lot of my irrational fears stem from an unstable childhood, but I'm 35 years old. I'm not sure why I still can't hang my arms or feet over the side of my bed in fear of a monster grabbing my toes.

I may be one of the easiest people on the planet to jump out at and scare! While I don't generally opt for the adrenaline producing physical or paranormal opportunities, I get my adrenaline fix in other ways.

I like to jump into situations in life where I'm challenged. I like experiencing really high highs and really low lows. The roller coaster of life is exciting to me. I see everything as one big adventure. Subconsciously, I have caught myself creating more friction within the adventure just to make it more exciting. I often procrastinate because the challenge of having to pull something off and make it work is exhilarating.

Absentmindedly pouring coffee without realizing I've grabbed a bowl for a cup is one of my quirky signals that life is being fueled by adrenaline. I haven't slept much over the last four days and it feels good... it means we're on to something exciting!

I'm not alone in this. I live in a house of adrenaline junkies. We all function best that way! Erik prepares his speeches at the last minute and knocks it out of the park. The kids put finishing touches on their school projects as they make their way to school on the day they're due and rock A's. I start packing for trips or moves days (sometimes hours) before we leave and we somehow make it on time. We all thrive in the jarring, self-inflicted chaos and choose to accept it as normal life. Otherwise, we get bored. For us, life is always changing and most often at the last minute.

A big bonus to living this way is how flexible we can be. Most of the "big five" life stressors don't derail us or catch us totally off-guard which makes us very adaptable. Career changes, moving, relationship transitions and illnesses each have their associated challenges but pet peeves like empty milk cartons left in the fridge can lead to a nuclear meltdown.

Life this way can be annoying to some. That's okay. We might make decisions that seem foolish, but to us we're just living the life we were born to live and we're walking within our passion and purpose. Our hope is that our stories are somewhat entertaining. Maybe it's all too much and you just have to look away; that's okay too. Either way, we want to hang and enjoy the time we share, because we put a very high value on incredible relationships our life leads us to!

We have decided it's time for another big surge of adrenaline for the Wilt crew. Team Wild is dreaming and planning...