Monday, September 5, 2016

Deep Thoughts: Would you take the plunge?

This time of year marks a restart of sorts for some. School starting, change in the weather., back to a schedule. This year my friends and I felt moved to mark it in some BIG way, so when my friend Elizabeth suggested she has always wanted to jump off the Taylor Street Dock it wasn't too hard to round up a group to do it together! 

Heading down Taylor Street Dock
On the actual day that we headed to the dock we had the addition of my daughter Sam which made things even more interesting. It was funny to see how we all handled the anxiety of the jump.   Some of us were freaking out about having an audience with the amount of tourist hanging around the area. Some of us were worried about the height of the jump. One friend became really quiet as she processed that we were about to do it, while another chattered a lot! It became really clear that we all handle fear in different and complicated ways. 

We all had it in mind that we would be jumping together, but found that to be too tricky. So, somehow it ended up being Samantha and I jumping first. This was actually really helpful for me as I had the pressure of everyone waiting and knew that if my daughter was jumping, I was with her! 

Samantha & I jumping! (check out my friend D'ann's face!) 
So we jumped. And it was scary. And then it was exhilarating! And then we wanted to do it again! 

I have called this my "Year of Yes" and I have been trying to be open to doing things that scare me. I have found that the more I do these things, the more crazy alive I feel! It's been terrifying, and the best thing ever! 

D'ann, Cherie & Elizabeth jumping! 
And I owe a huge part of this experience to my friend Elizabeth. She is an amazing friend, cheer-leader, and just plain leader. She rallied all of us to try this and cheered us all for doing. And made it look amazing while facing fear in the face! 

Elizabeth & Samantha contemplating jumping again! 
Would you have jumped? Do you have something that you have pondered doing that you might consider trying? Having a friend group that is ready to rally and do the scary fun things has meant so much in my life.  Let me know in the comments…I'd love to be your cheerleader!