Sometimes You Just Have To Leap
“Go ahead, jump! I promise I will catch you”.
She heard the words she wanted to hear and took the four foot leap off the water trampoline and into my arms like the brave kid I know her to be. All she needed was to hear me promise her that nothing would go wrong and she threw caution to the wind and leaped. I caught her, this time. As parents, we make these promises to our children all the time, even though we have no idea what the end result will be. It’s a part of growing up and learning that the biggest rewards come to those who take the leaps of faith.
Somewhere along the way a lot of us, myself included, lose the trust in ourselves and the instinct to leap, instead opting for the safer path. I don’t really have an answer for why that is, in my case at least, but I guess it’s a combination of a bunch of different things such as fear of failure, complacency and laziness. There are a lot of things I want to do with my life but I am so afraid to attempt them that I hold myself back at every turn.
A four year old jumping off a water trampoline may not seem like a big deal to an adult, but to her it was the equivalent of me bungee jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Watching her pride as she emerged from the water, shouting “AGAIN!, AGAIN!”, reminded me of how good it feels to accomplish something scary and new. Just that one leap of her’s has inspired me so much that I have already tackled two of them items on my long list of goals, by starting my YouTube adventure and also starting a strict exercise plan. I have to tell you, leaping it isn’t easy but the rewards far outweigh the effort.
So I ask you, what are the things you’ve been wanting to do but have been too afraid to leap for? Now is as good a time as any!
Disclosure: The water trampoline mentioned above was located at Severn Lodge in Muskoka. We were fortunate enough to visit here thanks to Chevrolet Canada, who put us up for the weekend and outfitted us with the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe, which I will be talking about soon!