In principle, I have always wanted to be a “dive in” kind of person, jumping with abandon into new or adventurous endeavors. In reality, not so much.
But it’s the moments when I hold my breath and go for it that I treasure most.
The thing that came to mind when I pondered this month’s theme is the year I finally tackled the “high dive” as a child. We went to an Olympic-sized pool with three diving heights: normal, medium and sky-high-I-might-die-if-I-try-it. There were rules. You had to be a certain age to go on each diving board, and the lifeguards were vigilant. To go on that probably deadly high dive, you had to pass some tests: Prove you could swim the width of the pool and back without stopping, and prove you could both jump and dive off the low and medium boards (without tears or drama, I presume).
I was about 10 when I met the criteria, passed the tests and then was goaded by my older brother into climbing that endless ladder to the sky and the terror that waited at the top. I remember looking down about halfway up (bad idea) and the feeling of my arms and legs shaking as I neared the top.
Once there, my first thought was, “Cool! Look at the view from up here!”
And then my second thought was, “Can I get down the way I came up?”
The answer was no. There was a whole motley crew of other sunburned kids making their way up that ladder behind me. I wanted to cry.
But instead, I held my breath and ran right off the end of the board and into the shock of the air chilling my damp skin as I hurtled toward the water, and then BAM! as I hit and plunged below. Adrenaline and oxygen and skinny legs powered me back to the surface, where I had to quickly get out of the way of the next jumper.
I had done it. There was no cheering section, no photo, no one who noticed I had jumped except me, but the thrill of it was incredible. I climbed out of the pool and got back in line to do it again.
Isn’t that the way it always is? We hesitate, ruminate, drag our feet — and when we finally get over ourselves and dive in, we feel like world champions.
I hope this issue of Bella will inspire you to dive in to something new!
— Lisa Player
