The Feeling

What is "The Feeling?" If you've ever gone to a summer camp and done the so-called trust fall where you stiffen your body and allow yourself to fall backwards while hoping like hell that your partner is going to catch you, then you know the feeling. It's that feeling you get when your falling towards the ground and it seems that your collision with the earth is inevitable. That feeling you get right before the other person catches you...that's "The Feeling." People who crave this feeling aren't addicted to gambling, or to being drunk, getting high, having sex, or any of the other cheap thrills your imagination can conjure up. It's the feeling that ties all of these things together that we are addicted to. The feeling is just as addictive as any drug and potentially just as deadly. It was the feeling that kept me going halfway through a 1600 mile bike trip that I didn't train at all for...that need, not even desire, to reach the top of the hills at any cost. The feeling I get in the boxing ring when I land a good combination and the opponent staggers backwards. The feeling of "removing" a keg from a fraternity party and getting it into the freshman quad. The feeling I get when I ski down the double black diamond that's covered in ice which I have no business being on but which I feel the need to conquer. The feeling of bluffing with pocket 5's. The feeling of going to the free-throw line with no time left on the clock and your team down 2. The feeling of standing on top of a table and challenging a bigger opponent to chug a beer in front of thousands of people...and winning. It's that feeling of exhilaration, of adrenaline, that keeps me going. I live for that feeling.