Recently on a family trip, we went swimming in the Little Blue Lake in Mount Schank on the Limestone Coast.
At the lake, there were people jumping off the rock cliffs into the beautiful blue water. In that moment I declared out loud to my family that I was going to jump off the cliff and into the water.
I set myself this challenge for 3 reasons:
- Show my mind I am boss – though I felt scared I wanted to overcome the fear and show myself I could.
- Teach my kids – yes something can be scary however you can overcome it, if I set this example they are more likely to follow.
- It is the easiest and fastest way to get wet – like a Band-Aid rip it off quickly.
When I made that decision I was scared, nervous and in fact, I didn’t want to do it. I am a 37-year-old mum, and it seemed that kids 15 years or younger than me or grown men who think they are still kids were jumping. Well, that is the story I told myself anyway.
I walked up to the ledge, looked down and nerves set in, what was I thinking? My mind started spiralling, no way can I do this, what if I hurt myself? What if I drown? Maybe I need to feel the water first to see if it was alright, this is not good for my contact lenses they will fall out so I better not and so many other reasons why not to jump set in.
Then hear a voice next to me right Ann-Marie on your count of 3 we jump. It was my husband, oh why did I have to declare out loud I was going to jump?
I turn around and see my two kids smiling and eagerly waiting to see me jump. I want them to believe in themselves and take risks and definitely do not want them to see me chicken out of something that so many have done before me. Alright, I can do this I tell myself.
I count 1, 2, 2,… 3 and off I go launching myself into the water. I go deep, I swallow water and my nose gets blocked. As I get to the surface to get air I hear a voice mum I am going to jump. I look up it is my 7-year-old, before I am able to speak he jumps into the lake. I panic, what if he lands like I do and struggles for breath? I quickly swim to rescue him and lift him up. My son is smiling and laughing, telling me he is alright and can swim. I let him go.
My husband who had been watching and clearly didn’t come to our son’s rescue (I think well I clearly cannot trust him to watch our kids in water) says to me laughing you didn’t seem to enjoy that and looked panicked. I can tell he has no worries about our son’s life, what if he drowned? Lucky I was there to save my son.
After exiting the water and catching my breath I think of the experience. It was not what I imagined, it was uncomfortable, scary and hurt slightly. However, that all passed and I felt proud of myself for jumping. I think back to my mind and all the doubt, worry and stories it made up:
- I am too old to jump
- I am going to drown
- I can’t do this
- What if I hurt myself
- I need to feel the water first
- My husband can’t be trusted with kids in the water
- I need to rescue my son
The thing is this was my mind trying to protect me and not reality. The truth is:
- I am not too old
- I wasn’t going to drown
- I was able to do it
- I didn’t hurt myself
- I didn’t need to feel the water
- My husband can be trusted with the kids as he was still close to my son if anything happened
- I didn’t need to rescue my son
What stories is your mind making up to stop you doing what you need to? How can you become the boss of your mind? Take note and watch your mind and when you hear the fear overwrite it and do it anyway.
Our mind is always searching for what is wrong or why we cannot do it so that it can protect us. It is up to us to overcome our minds so that we can achieve greatness. As Susan Jeffers says in her book “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”.
As I gained my breath and reflected on what happened I decided to jump again.
This time it was my husband, son and I jumping off the ledge together (check out our video below). This time it was a lot more fun. I still need to work on how I land in the water so that I do not swallow water. The second time was better. I wasn’t panicked and I didn’t try to rescue my son. Instead, I swam around the lake, enjoying the fresh water and beautiful natural scenery around me. I felt proud of my achievement.
The best part is that I have created a new reference point of where I felt the fear and did it anyway. I also inspired another mum to jump and was able to show my kids that even though I was scared I still jumped which I hope will use as a reference point to guide and encourage them in their life.
What is something that you are scared of doing and now will commit and do?
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