drawn using Paper53 on the iPad
So I went to Adventure Cove with my cousins last week (I won't talk about it much but it was fun fun fun), and there was this one attraction that really made me think. It was the platform cliff jump. Basically the whole attraction is simply two platforms, one at around 2m and the other 1m above the water surface. There are no mechanisms or anything, you just walk up to the platforms and jump right into the 3.5m deep pool beneath you. Thats simply it.
When we walked up there my cousins were like which one should we take and I thought, if we were going to do it, we might as well do the higher one. So we did. I told myself my strategy was to just jump. No thinking. Just walk to the edge and jump. So after my cousins both jumped off, I walked up to take my spot at the edge. You have to wait for the lifeguard to give you the okay to jump so while I was waiting, I looked down.
Its really only when you're at that spot that you feel, okay this is kind of high. I have a fear of heights, not severe, but its there. And honestly speaking I haven't really been in a pool that deep because my swimming skills aren't fantastic and I have a fear of deep waters, because I always wonder what if I can't get back up to the surface. So at that moment I was thinking: what the hell am I doing. But I reminded myself my plan going into this: don't think, just jump.
So I took a step back and did a one step run before leaping forward, and falling with my legs and hands strapped tight. I don't know why I did this but I looked down at the water the whole way down, and there was this moment right before my feet hit the water, when I thought: oh shit. This fear came over me as I saw how deep the water was and I panicked.
Then I hit the water, and my panicked self couldn't keep straight and apparently my body dived forward and I struggled to quickly get to the surface and swim to the edge of the pool. It was only three seconds after I got out and calmed down that I thought: I did it. And I am not ashamed to say I was really proud of myself. And it felt really good!
As the moment before I hit the water kept replaying in my head over the next few days, some thoughts came to me:
- Like picking which platform to challenge, why should you aim for achievements that you know you can do easily although you know you can push yourself and challenge yourself to achieve even greater things if there is the opportunity?
- "Don't think, just jump." It is sometimes best not to over-think things. So what if you feel that you aren't ready for something, or that you don't have the skills to do it? Maybe you just need to take a leap of faith and just go for it, because sometimes the more you think the more your thoughts hold you back from what you are capable of.
- Just like the moment of panic, there are going to be times when a situation overwhelms you and you will lose all the confidence that you had at the start. But thats okay. Even if you don't come out unscathed, you will find the surface and pull yourself together again.
- The feeling of achievement is something you will only feel if you let yourself go for it. So don't wade in a puddle of regret for not pushing yourself or letting yourself try.
A lot of my thinking leans towards making the most of opportunities, achieving goals and fulfilling dreams, so you can expect these to be the kind of lessons I pull out from any situation. I guess its because I'm more talk (or thought) than action, unfortunately, so I'm always trying to give myself pep talks to get my engine restarted.
Months back, I wrote down what I wish to be doing/to have achieved in five years. After writing this post, I dug that out and read it again, and I certainly feel more encouraged and inspired to do what I have to do to make those dreams a reality.
I do hope this encouraged you too, my friend. Happy week ahead, go forth and strive towards making those dreams a reality! :)
Eunice
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