For a great portion of my life, I wanted to ride an exotic animal, such as an elephant, camel, or a deer. Well, I got my opportunity unexpectedly when I visited some of my relatives residing in India. This day was very significant, especially for me, which is why I remember it so clearly. It was a rather hot, humid afternoon in Nagpur (a city in Maharashtra, India) and as usual, I was bored to death. Then, all of a sudden I heard a knock on our front gate, my brothers, my mother, my aunt and I went outside, and saw a huge camel, along with its rider outside the gate! At first I was happy, for this was the first time that I saw a camel that was not in a zoo. Then a wave of fear crawled upon me as I realized how big, ferocious, scary looking the camel looked. What had happened to the glorious, brave side of me? Gone, disappeared, and diminished. A reason that might have been to blame is that before this encounter, the thought that a came would be six feet, maximum was the case, but this dromedary was about nine to ten feet tall. I was so scared that I ran right back into the house. The camel rider mumbled something in Marathi (my native language) to my aunt and mother, and then my mother asked any of us if we wanted to ride the camel. There was no answer. Next, my aunt asked us if anyone wanted to ride the camel, but still, there was no answer. When I was asked a third time, I finally responded, and rejected the offer. I thought that I had made the right, smart decision until I realized that that would have been my only chance to ever ride a camel. The thought that I had rejected an offer to ride such an exotic animal would haunt and mock me for years to come, but what astonished me most was the fact that I learned something about myself. I learned that fear is something that even the bravest can’t deal with, I would have to find a way to become more courageous. However, if I just had acted brave, going against my childish behavior/instinct and acted brave just that one time, then I would have done something that many people in the US have never done.
A lost opportunity.