Jump

I'm often amazed at the amount of negativity within our views, our lives, our words and what we do. If a person stands in front of a cliff edge, wanting to jump, everyone would want to stop the person from jumping. That’s obvious. But what is the reason for jumping? There’s so many variables within that one scene that one cannot help but explore.

The person wants to jump and they've wanted to jump for the longest time. Should we let them? Is it our decision in life to stop anyone and everyone doing what they’d like to do?  What we don’t know, about this imaginary scene, is that he’s jumping from a known location for just that, jumping into the water below. They've seen videos, albeit supposedly perfectly safe, there will always be risks involved. Always. You drive your car to work or to the store each and every single day, which probably has more risk than jumping from that cliff.

The person jumping has been swimming for years. A jump such as this cliff jump is easy, a walk in the park, yet the people around this person quickly move to judge, to afford the person negative comments such as, “You don’t want to do that!” or, “It’s the wrong thing to do!”  That’s all fair enough as we all have opinions. We all have choices. You could jump with the person, as that person has the plan already worked out within their mind. It’s all options, all solutions. You have a problem, which involves entering the water, toes first as the height is above a head first dive. There’s the direction to swim back to shore, with possibly more to consider.

In life we have problems, real, scary, horrendous problems. Some of them may take more to resolve than making the decision to dive into some water filled area. What ‘we’ could change is the way we perceive problems. We’re not all the same, we all have our own minds and despite worrying about my own problems time to time, I know that for every single problem we must only think of solutions.

Solutions are the key to everything. It doesn't matter how quick, or slowly, you come to a solution as it’s the activity that matters. Do something. If you intend to take three weeks to decide then take the weeks, use them, explore with them, see the angles, the avenues and possibilities. Smile at the options, place the worry into a drawer away from your mind, then act. Make it happen. Create the plan. Yes, of course, you can re-evaluate, but it’s hardly going to do anything for you if you regret a decision that has been made. It’s done. That’s the past. Right now is the second that decides the next second of your future.

Never be afraid to jump but, of course, there will always be practical issues that need to be faced. If you want to travel the world then do it. That is to say, within reason, as long as your financial or current life allows that. There are obvious things to consider like children, debt, mortgages, but there can be a way. If not, you can actively decide to cancel that plan unless something changes. There you go, you’ve made that decision, you’ve jumped into the sea in a fashion. Positivity must win when battling negativity.

When you make your decision be wary of the people standing on the cliff next to you. They may not agree with supposedly reckless behaviour as, unfortunately, you and I, as well as most people, live confined and defined lives. Our glass houses are held together by the words nine to five, our lives a moment’s thought away from smashing to the ground. We’re trapped by money and might always be. Unless, of course, you jump. Change can be scary, it can keep you up all night, but it can also enliven your heart, soul and mind.

The norms of society are just that, normal. Who wants to be normal? We all allude to being special, different, that person that walks tall yet the truth is that we’re living our lives as intended. We’re walking through the halls heading towards the same door that eventually opens. We could be flying, we could be feeling so much more, but that’s up to each and every single one of us. You could be happy, which is an amazing thing to feel, so shake your own hand and smile.

For the rest of us, for the few standing by the cliff, at least consider the decision to jump. You’ll never know what’s out there until you try.