Don’t Look Down

I once climbed to the edge of a cliff with the intention of jumping from the heights into the blue-gray ocean off the coast of Wales. I had been guaranteed that there was nothing below me but water for feet and feet. Squeezed into a wetsuit and donning a tightly strapped helmet, I was assured that my life was not at all in danger. But when I looked down the rocky cliff face stretching below me, every survival instinct in my body told me otherwise.

It was at that moment that I realized why people tell you to never look down.

Many people have asked me in the past few days if I am nervous. My answer has usually been, “A little bit, but I’m so excited.” I am nervous, and I am excited. I think there would be something strange about me if I wasn’t nervous at all. But I also think that, starting out on any adventure, you can’t stop at nervous. You can’t stop at the fear that floods your body when you look down at the choppy sea and the jagged rocks and think, “What on the face of this dear planet do I think I’m doing, and why am I about to fling myself into a watery abyss?!”

Every adventure and every journey are filled with possibilities. And possibilities, when unleashed like specters in the naïve mind, can bring endless anticipation or hesitation, even dread. I am naïve – I don’t know what awaits me in Indonesia. But I do know not to look down.

Now is the time to look to the horizon. Now is the time to hear the waves coming in and the seagulls calling, inviting me to come and see. Now is the time to jump, take the plunge, and become immersed in an ocean of new experiences.

One More Week.