You Jump I Jump

Once upon a time I was pretty much afraid of everything. I was afraid of heights, the dark, fast moving objects (this includes rollercoasters of course), and being home alone. It was actually quite ridiculous now that I come to think of it .. My fear got in the way of a lot of opportunities I had in life and I grew frustrated.

It’s easy to get used to your comfort zone and honestly why would you step out of everything that feels safe and familiar? – that’s what I always thought, until I took a leap of faith.

One day I was stuck in my driver’s car in the scorching heat of summer in the insane traffic of Kuwait and I had just finished my summer engineering course at Kuwait University. And I decided that my life needed a kick. A hard one.

I was unhappy, I was frustrated, I was depressed because my life was not going the way I had planned or hoped and to be honest most of it was because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. In short, it didn’t feel like my life at all.

I kept remembering a sentence by philosophy professor had repeated several times that day .. and that is that if you want something you never had, you must do something you never did.

So after a year and a half of dragging myself around the engineering program, I quit. It wasn’t easy, especially on my parents. But I persevered. I decided to jump into something even if I was scared to death and uncertain of. And it turned out to be one of the best choices I ever made.

From then on I learnt to trust my gut, because more often than not, my gut was spot on. Sadly sometimes I had ignored it, only to realize later that I shouldn’t have.

Recently I had to trust my gut on something far greater than my career path. I had to know if I was ready to say “I do”. And I did. Even though my husband and I are complete opposites, I trusted my gut and I jumped.

Now many people (including myself in the past) have the misconception that the perfect couple is one that is in in perfect sync, have similar interests and similar ways of thinking. I discovered that it could be the opposite.. Because amongst many things, my husband craves the thrill of everything that scares me bloodless.

So this time I decided I was going to swallow and jump anyway no matter how scared I am because there is a whole world out there and many things to do and I will never learn my limits unless I try to reach as far as I could.

On our honeymoon I rode on the back of his motorcycle for hours in the rain and once I decided to block out my fear I realized that the thrill was worth it. You feel free and unbounded. From then on I went to Sharm ElSheikh and I stopped at nothing. From parachuting to jumping off yatchs and snorkeling in the depths of the sea, and I discovered that life starts at the end of your comfort zone.

The point isn’t to go sign yourself up for a sky diving course. The point is that we fear what we do not know and new things scare us until we take them on. Sometimes the scariest things we challenge ourselves to do turn out to be the best things we ever did. I refuse to believe that opportunities are thrown our way for us to ignore them.

I’m going to make a list from now on to try new things every once in a while to keep life interesting; how will I know what I like and what I don’t unless I try?

So go ahead. Live a little.

Close your eyes and jump.

 

The Dark Room

Recently the husband and I decided to try something new in Kuwait rather than the usual ordinary dinner. We’ve heard about The Dark Room for a while so we checked it out ..

The concept started in the US and was opened in Kuwait with different ideas behind it. The most obvious is that you get to experience how the blind manage to use their senses to make up for the lack of vision and also that you enjoy the taste and smell of food more when you focus on your other senses rather than your sight.

First they give you a box to put all your things in (including your phone!) you can’t take anything with you inside especially if it has a light on it.

You are then taken to a dim lobby area to make your choices out of a three course menu.. not many choices but the food was delicious! You then put on a full apron (trust me, you will need it!) and you are escorted into the darkness by a waitress.

When I say dark .. I mean pitch black. As in your eyes will never adjust to the darkness and you will never know what’s around you. You are guided to your seat and your spoon or fork is put into your hands and the fun begins!

Now to be honest for about the first 5 minutes I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it and the darkness can be quite intimidating at first, but when we started eating and having a few laughs at our horrible aim at feeding each other and the attempts to fill your spoon only to figure out that it's upside down or emptied into your lap, it turned into quite an interesting experience! Especially since your sight is blinded, your other senses are hightened.

The waitresses can see through special goggles and if you need them you have to yell out their name.

Not sure I will be making frequent trips to this restaurant but it’s something you must try at least once! The food is good, thanks to Chef Alaa Al-Sharhan, the service is excellent and it’s a great date idea for couples and newlyweds!

The price per person is 15KD and overall we rated it at 7/10

The Dark Room is located in Burj Jassem in Kuwait City, so make sure to try it out and expect a stain or two when you’re done ;P Enjoy!