Jump
By Jason Glaze
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon I was chilling out at the house watching TV when my youngest son Will walked up to me and asked me a question that brought a huge smile to my face. He asked, “Daddy, will you set up a ramp for me so I can jump my bicycle?” I love it when I see the adventurous spirit in my kids come out so I jumped up and went down to the basement to see if I could find anything to use for a ramp. After looking around for a while I came up with what I needed and went into the front yard to set up the ramp up. I made the jump high enough to give Will the thrill he was looking for but low enough not to scare him to death.
So the jumping began! Before his first jump Will had that look in his eye like he was on an episode of Nitro Circus or something. His first jump was a success, so were his second and third. After a while I could tell that he wanted me to go back inside so he could be alone. I was like this as a kid also. I liked to do my thrill seeking alone so I could really pretend like I was Evil Knievel raising my arms in victory after each jump. So I left him alone and went back inside.
About 30 minutes later the front door opened and in walked Will with tears rolling down his cheeks as he grasped at his knee. Yep, he crashed! It wasn’t anything too serious, nothing that a little ice
couldn’t take care of. I could tell that Will was crying from fear as much as he was from the physical pain. I began to wonder if his jumping days were over.
Here is where the story gets really good for me. The next day I was at the office. It was late afternoon and I had just finished up a counseling session when my phone rang. I answered the phone and heard the sweet yet brave voice of my little boy ask, “Daddy, would it be okay if I set up the ramp and jumped some more?” With pride in my voice I answered, “Absolutely!”
When I got home I told Will that I was so proud of him. He did something that is very hard to do. He had gotten hurt, but he was not willing to allow the fear of getting hurt again stop him from doing
what he loved.
Anytime we get hurt in life, the fear of getting hurt again always follows. It’s normal. But the question is this…. Is that fear of getting hurt again holding us back? Is the fear preventing us from taking the risk of being fully alive and living as our true selves? Personally, I want to let Will’s story be my story. Having courage does not mean that we don’t feel fear. True courage is not allowing that fear to keep us from living.
Jason Glaze
