A Perilous Journey with a Rich Reward

How many of us get out of our comfort zone and do something with risk attached to it?  Some of us may be forced out of our comfort zone and have to do something that may seem perilous to us.  Some of us may want to do something out of our comfort zone, but may be reluctant to take the step and others may just go for it.



On this particular occasion, our perilous journey started out as soon as we hit the chaotic roads in Bali in our faithful, old jeep. My family and I were going away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and were heading to a villa at a boutique hotel along the West Coast. Although only an hour from our home, the journey seemed to last forever as we dodged the motorbikes, inhaled the toxic, black fumes from all the hot and dirty traffic and raced with the impatient little trucks and cars, as they beeped to show they wanted to overtake even if they didn't have the engine power to do so.

The stream of traffic driving to and from Java was an incredible sight as lorries that had emptied their loads in Bali made their way north and nearly toppling lorries, stacked high and well above what would be acceptable in developed countries made their way south. One big, old lorry had overturned on a bend, its concrete slab contents strewn across part of the road. All it had to warn oncoming traffic was a little green leafed branch sticking out at the end of it (Bali's equivalent of a warning triangle).

I have now got used to these 'accident warnings' and although they make me chuckle, I admire Bali's eco-friendly and simple way of politely informing us of a breakdown or a danger such as a fallen away road.  I'd love to see a policeman's reaction if I did this in my home country, the UK! Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to take a photo - we did, however, bet on the likelihood that it would still be there on our return and it was (my camera had run out of battery at this stage, so another missed opportunity to take a photo)!

Thankfully we reached our destination in one piece. The hotel had a private beach which we had all to ourselves. In the hotel brochure, my husband had seen a cave in a sea cliff and decided that we should take a gentle stroll to find this cave before dinner. Our daughters would have nothing to do with our suggested walk and sent my husband and I off on our own.





What started out as a gentle stroll, turned out to be a mass expedition, scaling the treacherous and slippery rocks overlooking the sea. As I dutifully followed my husband who kept on re-assuring me that it would be easier on the way back because we'd be climbing up the rocks rather than down, I couldn't help wonder to myself whether this was a responsible thing to do with 3 daughters who had total trust that we would return. This, plus the fact that I was now officially in my mid 40s, who happened to have a handbag slung over my shoulders which kept on getting tangled up in my legs and I had to hitch my dress up to minier than mini level, didn't make me feel best equipped person to tackle this sort of risk.

To add to my perilous dilemma, the West coast is known for its high, professional surfer waves, the tide was coming in, night time was falling and there wasn't a single surfer in sight, only a little fishing boat bobbed up and down, in and out of sight on the wild waves. It was strange to see a fishing boat at this time of the day, maybe we provided some entertainment to the local fishermen.



As I froze still standing on a rock face, with a bitter, sweet feeling of fear and amazement as the huge waves crashed against the black rocks, my husband wandered further along the rocks and disappeared out of my sight.  I was alone on this eerie, but at the same time surreal rock not knowing whether to advance or retreat.  My husband whistled loudly and I ventured to look around the rock. He beckoned me to follow him and so I did, not knowing whether I would be rewarded or punished by what was ahead of me.


Although the journey seemed perilous at times, the reward at the end was well worth stepping out of the unknown and taking a few risks. I couldn't believe the feast for my eyes, as I saw what must have been hundreds of bats hanging upside down like jewels in a cave. It was a spectacular sight, melodious sound and breathtaking moment that was a perfect reward for having done something out of my comfort zone.

The next day we took the perilous route again to show our children the bats and it seemed less perilous this time and makes a good acronym in life where we take risks and it gets easier when we've already done it. I even managed to capture the moment on video:-

If ever you have to take risks, there'll be rewards. No matter how scary it may seem to you at the time, you'll make new discoveries, be more knowledgeable and come out stronger. I couldn't resist using an ocean quote I like for this blog:-

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."
Andre Gide

The following quote is a good one too:-

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful that the risk it took to blossom"
Anais Nin

Enjoy the personal rewards that come with taking risks.


Janet

By the way, the hotel we stayed at was the Gajah Mina Beach Resort www.gajahminaresort.com
Tip:- Don't be too specific about your check out time - we said we would leave around 11.30am and a whole entourage of staff stood outside our villa waiting to clean our villa at 11.25am - felt pressurised to finish packing quickly!