A good boost of adrenaline makes things much more fun and I love living life without cowering.
But there is one thing that can make me feel uncomfortable and in this, I'm not alone.
Sometimes I worry about how quickly and inevitably things around us change.
Change often is progress, and that's always for the better. Take the changes that are in store for this newspaper as an example. The Bay of Plenty Times will be a morning compact newspaper early next year, a change that is aimed at making the paper even more local, timely and relevant.
Our website is also about to receive an overhaul.
Developers are completing the final touches of a brand new look for bayofplentytimes.co.nz at the moment and I'm also very excited about that.
What I do worry about are changes in life that hit like a punch in the face, changes I didn't see coming.
For some reason, life's got a knack for completely throwing me around every five years or so.
Recently, a lot has changed. Some of it is pretty good, some not too bad, but there have also been some changes that have caused turmoil.
I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I haven't quite figured out yet what the reasons behind these recent changes are, but at least it made me think.
Breaking a pattern always creates new opportunities.
I'm convinced there is always a silver lining.
Over the years, dealing with successes as well as setbacks, I have learned that the biggest lever I will ever have is my attitude.
I admit that change sometimes worries me, but I have learned to relax about it and consciously look for the benefits and opportunities within changes.
A bit of a shake-up and a kick in the butt is sometimes all it takes for someone to make changes for the better and that is certainly true for me.
So here I am, dealing with challenging situations, taking one small step at a time. The first step forward was setting some small, reachable goals.
One of them is getting to the summit of the Mount before 2013. I've been up the top of Mauao twice in the eight years I've lived here in the Bay so I am well aware that the view is stunning and definitely worth the effort.
The plan is to lose a little weight and get a bit fitter before the end of the year, but scarier is that I'm also thinking about changing the way I look.
When I asked my friends on Facebook what they think of a new hairstyle for me, Caryn Rawlinson, organiser of the Tauranga Moana Seafood Festival, said: "I reckon go super-short and sexy. Time for a new you. Hair can do that. Hey, it always grows back."
I just spoke to Grayson Ottaway from Classic Hits and he thinks I should get it bleached and dye it a metallic silver blonde.
My hair has been long, wild and curly for more than 20 years. The only two shades it's ever had are my natural strawberry blonde and brunette.
Wearing it ultra-short seems too radical, and it's a look that probably won't suit me, but I do agree with Caryn. It's time for a new me.
Expect to see a very different photo with this column next week.
