There were beautiful sailboats moored along the bank. The weather was calm, with sunny skies. We were walking, sometimes talking, and simply enjoying the relaxed Sunday afternoon.
Suddenly... I saw this:
I paused. I looked at it. This little pier in between the ship and me.
Oh how it beckoned to me! I told my friend that I feel called to hop unto it. My friend was a bit startled.
So I look at the pier in the eyes...
"Jump to me!" - it says.
"I'd love to." - I reply. "But I don't know if I'll make it."
"How will you know unless you jump?" - it taunts me.
"Because I don't know the extent of my jumping power. I need some practice before I take you on."
I now wish I had taken it on, right there, right then. What was the worst that could have happened?
That I might have gotten soaking wet. With a bit of a shock to my ego. Not so bad, really. Hmmm... come to think of it, had I landed in the water, my friend's car would have gotten soaking wet... so it would have been a hassle for others, not just for myself.
I am still haunted by the pier's taunt:
"How will you know unless you jump?"
So true...
Next time, I wont go near this wise, feisty little pier without a spare pair of clothes!
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6 comments:
Did you examine the rope if it could be pulled to make the little pier closer? -- Just a practical effort (as part of the preparation for the 'practice')? Also, did you predict how would you jump back if you'd successfully jumped onto the pier?
Yes, I thought of the rope trick, but I felt that pulling the pier closer would be "cheating". Hmmm...maybe I was too hard on myself...
Getting back onto land would be a matter of pulling myself in using the rope (there's no way to jump from a pier of that size without serious risk of pushing the structure back and getting seriously wet)
When you have a goal and you decently try to reach it, then putting too much restriction on the path to reach the goal may not always be wise...
Yes, the only thing that stopped me was doubt/fear.
That's partly why practice is such an important thing in developing any skill: it helps dissolve fear, which is ultimately the only thing standing in-between us and the fulfillment our visions.
Sorry for breaking your Philosophical discussions.
But it could be due to the writing on the ship: "Laden"!! was there any "Bin" prefix??!
you could have been arrested for a terrorist attempt/attack labelled as a "Suicide Jumper".
hehehe!
no "bin" prefix though
it was a Chinese boat I think
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