Make a Splash!

I went cliff-jumping at Hells Gate for the first time when I was 17 years old. It was a small pool about 40feet wide that I had to swim across to get to the cliff. Once the cliff was reached I had to climb up the rocky surface grabbing only onto the roots that stuck out to prevent me from falling. I stood up at the top and beside me was a rock spray-painted saying 56ft. I then looked down. Never thought I was scared of heights until I realized I was going to jump it. I stood there for what felt like an eternity. Wanting to succumb to my fears I thought about climbing back down. In reality climbing down would be much more dangerous and I knew I had to jump.

I stood even longer and stared at the water below hoping that this was just a dream I would wake out of. I took a deep breath and picked my head up and looked across the pool onto the opposite cliff when something grabbed my attention. On the cliff in red spray-painted letters was a quote that we all have heard before: “Just Do It”. Ha! I thought; “Nike really had it right with that one”. Just do it ran in my head only once before saying “fuck it, I will take the risk and go for it because if I didn’t I would most likely regret it”.

With one breath and 3 running steps I leaped off the cliff with a scream and a gravitational acceleration rate of 9.8m/s that pulled me down. Arms tight on my side and toes pointed I fell 56feet and cut the water perfectly. I sunk deep into the pool… pause… a brief moment of reflection before re-surfacing with my fist leading the way. I did it and the feeling was amazing! I overcame my fear and set the stage for my friends to follow with 10 more personal jumps that very day.

Since that day I visited Hells Gate every summer and jumped every time. I look back now and think about how that very jump is so close to other things in my life. Now if I can just inhale a deep breath each day, take that risk and just do it I know I will overcome my fear and succeed. If I don’t I will regret it. I stand overlooking different cliffs each day and I am going to go for it. I want to jump and make a huge splash.