Founder Story: Paper Tiger

Going on real-life adventures – mountain climbing, skydiving, ziplining – can be a blast, but it can also be pretty terrifying. And rightfully so! But it can also unlock the unforeseen value that impacts your day-to-day life. Let me explain.

I wouldn’t characterize myself as the adventurous type, but I don’t let that stop me from going on adventures. Once you’re on that adventure – when you’re in that plane or on that zipline podium – a different sort of feeling rushes over you. It’s this combination of excitement and panic (which I admit doesn’t sound pleasant, but bear with me). Then you jump… or fall… or whatever, and an altogether new feeling comes over you – pure joy. All-of-a-sudden, you’re happy you did it. If you stop and take note of your body, you realize you have a huge smile on your face. Maybe you’re even screaming with joy. 

And that’s exactly how it went for me just a few weeks ago when I ziplined through the forest in Kohala, Hawai’i. A babbling stream beneath me, the Pacific Ocean in the background, and trees all around, these 8 ziplines were fun and beautiful and exhilarating and serene all at once. 

But ultimately, that’s not why I do it. I do it because I know there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to do it. There’s a part that says, “Are you crazy? Why would you risk your life like that?” But that risk is a paper tiger. And going out onto that podium and stepping off the ledge is a reminder that I control my paper tigers, they don’t control me. 

Not just right then-in-there, in the forest, but when I get back home and I’m going about my daily life. It reminds me that I can feel that fear one feels when standing on a zipline podium and I can decide to step off anyway. That podium becomes a metaphor that I can point to for proof that the decision is in my hands. That I live with my fears, I see and appreciate them, but I keep them in their place. That I’m in charge.