Jump
Who doesn’t like cliff jumping?
No. Seriously. Who doesn’t like it? Do you like it? Or would you never in a thousand years?
What if it was only 2 feet?
‘Well that’s not a cliff…’
Ok how about 6? That’s a full body length.
‘…ok well maybe’
How about 10? Worksafe BC says you need a fall protection after 10 feet. That’s gotta count right?
‘No. 10 is too high’
I enjoy throwing myself off of cliffs. The free-fall, the ‘IM ALIVE’ that nobody hears me proclaim while I am fully submerged and realize that the impact hasn’t killed or maimed me.
It’s fun.
How high is too high? The world record is 172 feet. Could someone survive 173? How about 174?
If you can jump 2 feet why can’t you jump 3 feet? Or 2 and a half even? What’s another 6 inches?
At some point you will say ‘No, I won’t do it.’ Which is a good thing. Your instincts are telling you; ‘death’, ‘danger’, ‘mortal risk’. Those are good instincts.
Before I …dive deeper… into my very round-about thought process let me say: I’m not a proponent of peer pressure, coaxing, taunting or bullying. You know when enough is enough and you should trust that. I am, however, a very challenging person (in several ways), but I mean it as a verb, not an adjective. I challenge people. So here is my challenge to you- in the form of a very incoherent jumble of words resembling something close to a metaphor:
If you go cliff jumping and work your way up from 5 to 10 to 20 feet. Your reluctance will increase as your height does. The higher you go the longer you will… hesitate. Wait. Watch. And throw rocks, while counting the seconds. Again, good instincts. Assessing the risk. Weighing your options. Cost? Benefit?
You will wrestle with the question: To jump? Or not to Jump?
If and when you decide you’re actually going to jump, however;
JUMP!
-
Of the amount of bumps, bruises scrapes, injuries and near-misses I have seen; most of them come from a last-minute hesitation and indecision: Fear.
Leaning backwards: exposing the back of your head to the rock cliff.
Jumping sideways: and turning, so as to not have to face the fall before you.
Failing to actually leap: so sort of ‘stepping’ and minimally hopping, which does not allow for much clearance of your take-off platform.
And even closing your eyes.
For the love of everything holy; DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES!
These indecisive and fear ridden, ‘last-second’ compulsions or… alternatives to following through, are all much more dangerous than
just
Jumping.
My ever-analytical mind observes these things and must abstract them out to broader and more fundamental truths.
Which, may be why I, and so many others, like cliff jumping (though, not all have submitted the activity to such introspective reflection). It is an opportunity to face fear.
It is an opportunity to practice follow through, commitment, risk-taking.
If I turn at the last minute, I will lose my balance and land uncomfortably or painfully, potentially injuring myself. If I don’t jump high enough or far enough, I may bounce, slide or grind off the rock face, leaving me wounded, hurt and injured before I’ve even hit the water. If I send my feet out ahead of me and lean back out of fear; I risk a traumatic injury to the back of my head or spine, potentially knocking me unconscious… or worse…
If I try to hang on to the cliff, after I have ‘decided’ to jump, I risk all of the above.
When I take people cliff jumping for the first time, anywhere, I always tell them; Lean forward, over top of your feet, jump up and jump out (Even if it is significantly overhung with no hazards below). And again; this applies at a 2 foot ‘cliff’ as well. Learn how to jump well at 2 feet, then you can try 6, then 10, then, who knows, you can go as far as you want to push yourself.
The height is not the point.
I’ve jumped heights that were challenging to me, and I understand that that number is going to be different for everyone, and higher even for many (those people are crazy though, because anyone who can jump from a higher point than me is clearly crazy…..). The point is that when you find that challenging height, when you reach that perfect place between ‘No way’ and ‘No problem’
You have to
make
a choice.
Will you jump? Or not.
Both choices are acceptable. Indecision is not. All have consequences.
You have time. You can survey the area, the depth of the water, the presence or absence of rocks below that you may need to launch yourself past, take some deep breaths.
You have time.
Now- Wisdom would say; ok you actually can’t take all day to decide because eventually;
The sun
will
set.
But you do have some time before then to make up your mind.
So do that.
And when you walk back down to safety, be proud of your choice, and confident in your discretion. Not all risks are worth taking.
But if you do decide to jump…
If you decide to throw yourself off of that sturdy, stable, solid ground into open air.
And -hang- suspended for an eternal moment while your heart races, your stomach flutters and your mind screams every human survival instinct that has been developing since the dawn of time into your conscious thought.
If that is what you choose to do with your agency, autonomy and freedom, then seize it.
Will yourself away from that security and comfort, and with joyful terror hurl yourself into space.
Into that moment that only exists when you do exactly what it is that you have chosen to do.
Where there is no way back. Where the fear that surrounds you, is overwhelmed by the peace of mind that
you are doing this on purpose.
That you chose this, you are in it, come what may.
And the consequences are all your own: the pain, the lessons, the joy, the glory, the freedom…
And remember;
…don’t close your eyes
