I have a hypothetical for you. Let’s say you have an opportunity to try an activity that’s always sounded interesting to you, but for a variety of reasons — it’s too intimidating, primarily, but also maybe just too inconvenient/unavailable? — you’ve never done so. Skydiving, for instance. A boudoir photo session. Spending a day working as an official cast member at Disneyland, dressed as a princess. Helping a zoo veterinarian sedate a Bengal tiger. Swimming with stingrays.

Screen shot 2012-10-12 at 10.16.47 AM

Here’s the catch: the whole thing is going to be filmed for a sort of online reality show. You’re going to be pushed way out of your comfort zone, and cameras will capture every unflattering moment.

Would you do it? If so, what experience would you choose?

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Janet
Janet
11 years ago

Heaven forbid, absolutely not. I already look like a dork on daily basis. I do not need that shit documented!

dorrie
dorrie
11 years ago

It would be cool to get a bucket list item documented, even if I looked the fool. I am hella scared of heights and I really want to jump out of an airplane to challenge myself. If someone else would find diversion in watching that as well, then so be it.

dorrie
dorrie
11 years ago

PS that picture cracks me up!

Mary Beth
11 years ago

Do it! Once in a lifetime and a good one for the bucketlist. Plus you’ll get a handy dandy video momento of your experience. (says reality tv producer who pushes people outside zones all the time…..)

Eric's Mommy
Eric's Mommy
11 years ago

I would probably do it. Especially if it was swimming with stingrays!

Kari
Kari
11 years ago

I probably would.

The obvious choice for me is skydiving/bungee jumping/extreme sports of some sort.

However, if I were going way out of my comfort zone? I would walk in a runway show, with the hair and the makeup and the audience and the loud music and all of that.

Zoot
11 years ago

If were something that scared me? (A lot of things terrify me: Heights, Scary Movies, Heights, Water, Heights, Roller Coasters) then HELL NO. I do not react well under stress/anxiety and I don’t want the world to see that.

If it were something just…challenging or maybe just slightly embarrasing? Like the Disney thing, or eating something gross, or learning to dance, I might would do it.

mel
mel
11 years ago

Hell yeah I’d do it. This is the essence of life’s stories, and the magic of life lived within an inch of its life.

Surreal, uncomfortable, weird, strange vs. yoga pants, daily grind, familiar, comfortable? As a fellow mom with few opportunities like this knocking at my door, I’d pick the first in a heartbeat and so should you.

Barb
Barb
11 years ago

So, being old enough to look back “fondly” to your age, I would definitely do it! Because when you’re (ahem) 53, you’ll look at those pictures or that video and be amazed at not only how awesome you were but how skinny too! (and so will your kids). DO IT!

Melissa
Melissa
11 years ago

I’m with Zoot. I would do something that was really cool even if it made me uncomfortable or nervous. I would not do something that would terrify me like going under in a GD Shark cage or skydiving.

Mary-Lynn
Mary-Lynn
11 years ago

I think this depends entirely on how you tend to react when you’re pushed out of your comfort zone. I, personally, tend to kind of be an asshole when I’m scared or threatened. I just react back – hard and loud and with lots of expletives and… it’s unpleasant for everyone involved. So I wouldn’t do these things and have it be recorded if I thought that at all would be my reaction.

On the other hand, some people react in more sympathetic to the viewer ways – the manifest fear and cry and it’s kind of okay. You tend to feel for them and I think if that’s your reaction then you’d be okay doing this and having it recorded.

duchessbelle
11 years ago

For very few things could I be convinced. The opportunity to be a Disney princess though? I’d do a lot to make that happen.

amanda
amanda
11 years ago

It really depends. Free tickets to travel Japan? Yes please, film me all you like, I’m gonna have a blast. Other stuff I would have to weigh carefully whether I’ll really have a good time or not (I know that I probably wouldn’t have a great time skydiving).

Getting pushed out of your comfort zone *can* be a good thing, but I’m not sure a reality show is a good place to do it. Let’s be honest, comfort zones are there for a reason, and if you are prone to major panic attacks or something and you think one could happen if the producer of the show surprises you with a change of plans (because that’s how they get people stressed and into tough situations). It’s a hard decision!

Katharine
11 years ago

Definitely not. The last thing I ever want to do is contribute to reality TV.

Jennie
Jennie
11 years ago

I try to make it a point to say yes from the perspective of post-event. Will I be glad to say I did this? Will I be excited to add it to my list of accomplishments? Will it possibly lead me to better things? Instead of thinking of this moment and all the fear, you know?

It also really depends on if my motivation is The Thing or The Show. If it’s the former, I’d likely be fine with being recorded (well, if my family gave me the thumbs up, too). Sure, it might be unflattering and scary, etc., but if my motivation is the passion of The Thing and not being on camera, I think it would probably mostly turn out okay.

Laura M.
Laura M.
11 years ago

Do eet. Yeah, reality tv is sometimes awful. But whatever. That Wipeout show makes me crack up!
I would do any of the adventures you mentioned. Go for it, lady! :D

Heather
11 years ago

Yep. I’d try it. I don’t know what my “thing” would be but it would have to be in the exciting but not terrifying range. I would need to be able to protect my own ability to say no and opt out at the last second. That would be my safety net.

Carmen
11 years ago

Oh hell, no. I wouldn’t even do my favourite thing, the thing that I’m aces at, in front of a camera. Why on earth would I do something I afraid of?

Also, when I’m scared, I don’t like to have people hovering around, talking to me. I want to be left alone. I’d likely punch the cameraman right in the face.

Suzanne
11 years ago

I would say absolutely yes to the Disney cast member and no to the skydiving, so I think it depends on HOW MUCH you want to try the thing. The internet is full of videos of people being/looking foolish, so WORST CASE SCENARIO is you are one of them. But 10 minutes later some idiot will post a video of himself getting shot in the nuts with a nail gun and everyone will be looking at that instead.

p.s. braggy moments: I’ve swum with stingrays, 3 times. It’s cool but not worth the reality show.

Angella
11 years ago

I know how shy/introverted you are, but that’s exactly why you should do it.

I may be your “confident” friend, but it’s all an act. I just pretend I’m playing a role.

You can too. DO IT.

sooboo
sooboo
11 years ago

I doubt I would do anything stressful that would be televised since I have a dash of PTSD and I wouldn’t want to have to explain that to an audience/ camera crew. But you should totally do it! Even though you say you’re shy, you do have this powerful, endurance testing part of your personality that reality TV audiences root for for. Also, I love that photo and I also love that people reenacted it. http://spitecho.tumblr.com/post/33025079374/skelemmyton-missmonstermel-hahahaaaaaa

Lanie
11 years ago

Working as a Disney Princess sounds awful. :)

Mico
Mico
11 years ago

A quick note that I feel for those women. I jumped into a shallow lagoon in an area where stingrays congregate, and those stingrays know exactly why you’re there — to give them snacks in order to get some photos! It’s just like a petting zoo — those little buggers want one thing only, and don’t give a crap who gets in the way of their meal.

I was not prepared for them to swarm up to me so agressively, and some of them are huge. Almost as soon as I hit the sand, I was scrabbling back up into the dinghy. My husband was laughing his ass off.

Jules
Jules
11 years ago

I’ve done that swimming with rays. I white water rafted in Alaska. I’m short, overweight and the LEAST athletic person in the world, but I can now say i did it. I will still never bungee jump;) just do it, to paraphrase from Nike.

Rachael
11 years ago

I would totally do it and you KNOW I’m a social misfit.

Valria
11 years ago

He’ll to the NO.

Lindsey
Lindsey
11 years ago

My humble 2 cents… You’ve always encouraged Riley to do things outside his comfort zone. As long as it’s not dangerous, I say be a role model & go for it. Your fears in your head are probably a million times worse than what will really happen in reality & you get a great story to tell.

Walking a tight rope over a mountai valley would terrify the $&@; out of me but it’d be once in a lifetime & I’d rather live with what I did than wonder what if. Good luck!

Kristin
Kristin
11 years ago

It would be fearful to swim by those ladies, cause I bet they are peeing in the pool! :)

Kelly
Kelly
11 years ago

I’m a big believer in not putting off those “someday I’d like to” items if there’s any way you can check them off. You just never know when you’re going to lose the option. I’ve lost a lot of family quite young and know some of the things they meant to get around to doing first but never did. I luckily scratched skydiving off my list shortly before I was diagnosed with awful knee troubles that aren’t exactly compatible with landings, so glad I did it when I could.

Like Mary-Lynn, though, I often get kind of cranky when I’m out of my comfort zone, so the reality filming probably would just irritate me, but whatever can get you to do the someday items, I think it’s worth a go!

Nancy
Nancy
11 years ago

Would I do something like that, yes. (and I have) Would I want it documented in THAT way, HELL NO.

honeybecke
honeybecke
11 years ago

Hmm this is a bit tricky! I can see you dilemma…so let’s see if it were me what would I do? I guess I’d figure out if it was something I actually had an interest in doing even slightly. If yes, then yep I’d do it because when else will you do it? If it’s something so not even interesting to me then I’d probably skip it.

And by the way, if you DO do this? Sooo gonna watch! :) Good luck! We’ll all be rooting for ya!

Jennifer
Jennifer
11 years ago

As long as it didn’t involve eating bugs or being in a box with snakes or something to do with live critters and their unpredictability, I’d do it. I have a HUGE fear of heights so I could see as how I’d start crying and panic if forced to jump out of a plane, but I’d do it and film it. What the hell.

Pete
Pete
11 years ago

Depends on the money. Backpack across New Zealand.

Kami
Kami
11 years ago

I always look at it like if they are filming this shit they sure in the hell don’t plan on me dying. Therefore, go for it!

Stacy H-W
11 years ago

Don’t you find that you usually really regret the things you don’t do rather than worry about how embarrassed you were doing the things you actually do?

Go for it if you have an opportunity!

Sarah
Sarah
11 years ago

yes. do it.
I am a fraidy cat, but life throws curve balls that are scary. when those curve balls come, im thankful that I have practiced being brave in controlled situations.

JMH
JMH
11 years ago

NO..I hate reality TV

Mouse
11 years ago

Yes, I would do something to push my own boundries or just to prove to myself that I can, even if it makes me uncomfortable. Examples include, skydiving, holding a snake, whatever…but never for reality tv or any other camera. No need to exploit myself or my fears.

Kizz
11 years ago

You had me right up to the documented for any sort of reality show. Having a friend take pictures or video to archive the event? Awesome. Reality shows only make their money if I look like an asshole. Even if I’m not an asshole they have to make me look that way for at least a portion of my screen time. I can do that by myself and in my own way. I don’t need their help.

Lisa S.
11 years ago

No. Absolutely not. I don’t care to have my personal development milestones edited and packaged for consumer entertainment. That’s turning my experience into a product to be sold (by someone else) for profit (by someone else) and the loss of control over both the experience and the dissemination of it would be a dealkiller.

If anyone is going to profit from me going outside my own comfort zones, it will be me. I prefer to be the architect of my own corporate exploitation.

Lori
Lori
11 years ago

As someone else said, reality shows make their money by making someone look bad. I wouldn’t want to be that someone.

You have to decide what is the motivation of the show sponsors.

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

yes, without hesitation

Melissa A.
Melissa A.
11 years ago

Yes! I so want to ride an ostrich. I would totally look like a fool, screaming and probably falling off, but wouldn’t anyone riding an ostrich?

David
David
11 years ago

I once jumped out of an airplane. I was terrified from the time I put the jumpsuit on till it was my turn to jump out. I mean terrified. It was a thrilling experience once I left the plane. Would NEVER do it again, but glad I did. ONCE!!!

kim
kim
11 years ago

I think someone else said it best, “Hell to the NO.” Mostly because you can’t really know exactly HOW you might respond under extreme stress/duress, and I am not sure I would trust the show to do what it said it would (as an unpleasant twist or surprise would really ratchet up the entertainment value), and if things got ugly and/or humiliating, I would not — NOT — want that documented on film to live on forever and ever (and ever, amen) for everyone in the entire world to see: prospective employers; future love interests; children; frenemies; former teachers; etc.

Amy N
Amy N
11 years ago

Hmmmm…I don’t know. I’m a dork most of the time so I guess documenting it wouldn’t be the big deal. I am going to do a run (I don’t run…really…not at all) that you would like. Run For Your Lives-a zombie infested obstacle race. Guaranteed I’m going to look like a fool. But it isn’t being filmed. And you can be the zombie or a runner!!

Ms. Key
11 years ago

This is such an interesting question… I have an anxiety disorder, and am not very adventurous. That being said, I wouldn’t mind the whole reality TV thing because I think it would be hilarious and a story for life… however, I can’t think of an adventurous thing I’d be willing to do. I agree with “live life to the fullest”, but I still only think that counts for things that are on a personal “bucket list”. Just because someone thinks sky diving is a “must” does not have to mean we ALL have to have sky diving on our bucket list. I just think a bucket list should be completely personal.

So, if I was picking something off my bucket list that was a very different/new experience, I’d go for it, and I’d probably let myself be on the reality show, haha. However, it would have to be my personal choice of activity (i.e. I have no interest on being on a show like Fear Factor or Amazing Race when I have no control AT ALL over the activity).

Andrea
11 years ago

I don’t have any opinion to contribute, but I thought you must see this: http://mirthbomb.com/photobomb-prank/

Tia
Tia
11 years ago

You only live once. And who wouldn’t want to be a Disney princess??

Lisa
Lisa
11 years ago

Ask yourself how you think you’ll feel about doing it when you’re 80 years old and telling the story to your grandkids. Temporary discomfort and fear shouldn’t make your decision for you…think big picture. Of course, this is all easier said than done!