Last summer I jumped into water from a 30-foot cliff in Texas. This was an event my 27-year-old son Sam was sure I needed to experience. I’m pretty sure he was born to push my limits and shake me out of my comfort zone. Before I jumped, I was sitting back on a warm soft rock “life coaching” two female college athletes on how to face their fear of jumping. I told them: “Don’t wait for the fear to subside—it won’t. You have to jump into the fear itself.” Such great advice from someone who had yet to stand with toes dangling off a 40-foot cliff.
They eventually jumped.
My turn.
Sam and the other 20-somethings were treading water below urging me to take the leap. “It’s so fun, mom! Just do it!” Everything in my body was saying absolutely do not jump! Every sweat gland in my skinny body was activated. My heart was racing and my body was trembling. I was thinking: I’m more than 30-years older than everyone here. I am going to kill or injure myself. For what—to face fear? This is the most ridiculous way to die ever! But having my son see me jump off what now seemed like a 50-foot cliff in the face of incredible fear trumped all rational thought.
I closed my eyes and jumped.
I could feel my body gaining speed in the decent.
The force of air altered my plan to hold my nose.
Abruptly, my body hit the deep cool water hard and awkwardly.
When I emerged to the surface in pain but alive, I heard Sam saying: “You okay, mom? Did you close your eyes? You landed pretty weird. You gotta keep your eyes open next time.”
I’m thinking: Next time?!
That was not my first heart-pounding physical leap of faith. Two years prior, Sam invited me to go skydiving with him and his cousin. I had the same terrifying fear when I leaned over the open fuselage loudly buzzing thousands of feet above the earth. Though an expert jumper was strapped tightly to my backside, my body and mind were reacting to the idea that I’m about to jump out of a fast moving airplane 13,000 feet above the earth. I’m about to do something completely reckless that may kill me. My hands are sweating even now while I write this.
I took one last look at Sam and my niece, took a deep calming breath and pushed off when I heard “GO!”
My eyes were open. I was breathing into it.
I was enjoying the fall!
After these two jumping experiences I learned that the thing with big jumps is to keep my eyes open and enjoy the fall. Leaps of faith create the amazing experiences I really want in life. They always feel scary and exciting because there is big risk involved. When I focus on all the negative outcomes it stops me from jumping and I stay exactly the same or I jump with eyes closed and miss the exhilarating experience of the fall.
Stay with me here… I believe that we are given the miraculous gift of life to play with the energies of the Universe, to see how amazing, impactful and meaningful our lives can become. When we choose to act courageously we are making a quantum leap. The energies of the quantum field behave entirely different from our normal laws of physics. When we take a quantum leap we are not adhering to what’s known and obvious, but leaping toward something great and exhilarating without knowing the outcome. We are here to courageously take quantum leaps as they are offered to us. We are asked to trust the leap.
How many times have you wanted something so much, but when it’s presented to you, you develop your list of reasons that this is not the exact right time, or you haven’t prepared enough, or you remind yourself of when you’ve jumped before and it didn’t go well? All good rational thoughts, but then you reject and miss the exhilarating possibilities that life is offering you. You stay safe. You remain sitting on the warm soft rock “life coaching” or you jump with your eyes closed and don’t enjoy the fall.
The Universe is demanding your courage to jump. You’ll never feel ready or fully prepared because by its very nature, the outcome is unknown. Life presents us with beautiful opportunities and experiences all the time. It’s energy is not rational, it’s exhilarating and scary. Every fiber of your body screams RUN AWAY or I NEED MORE TIME AND INFORMATION!
Leaps of faith are everywhere. You don’t have to jump off a cliff or out of an airplane. It’s not always a physical risk, but perhaps it’s an emotional or financial risk. You’ll never feel completely ready or prepared, but there’s something being offered to you that feels like what you really want. There is a quantum opportunity presenting itself to you right now that feels exciting and also scares the crap out of you. You choose. Stay safe, continue to wait for the “right” time, gather more information, or take the quantum leap of faith and enjoy the fall.