Why would anyone want to climb Mount Everest? Or bungee jump off a bridge into a 500 meter abyss? Or sleep on a sidewalk in a tent?

To prove that we can.

Not everyone is an adrenaline junkie and I’ll admit I prefer five-star treats over slumming in the City, but life offers moments for us to experience the depth, breadth and heighth of it all. And that includes extreme moments in time to test our limits.

And so it was for me this past weekend. I got to taste the sweetness of life in a completely new way by helping a friend at a street festival in Frankfurt. Because his wares were so valuable (and plentiful), we had to sleep in the stand at night. Having never slept on a military bed in my life, it was surprisingly comfortable. We had a system, complete with refrigerator. And I found out I am capable of a lot more ‘hardship’ than I thought. Even the periodic 3 a.m. street sweeper that sounded as if it might suck us up like a Wizard of Oz tornado couldn’t stop us.

I’m not that five-star pampered princess after all. In fact, I’m tough as nails. And that good girl who wanted to get everything right? Yeah, she’s gone home. For good.

So that’s most likely why people push themselves to the near breaking point. To simply see how far they can go. To understand there is more beauty between the lines and that sometimes we have to dance outside of them, peering in to the mystery that unfolds as we breathe in life’s magic — city sidewalk and all.