Taking the Jump

Mom taking the jump in the 1980's

The other day my dad sent me this picture of my mom that he took of her in college. They had taken a boat out with friends on a lake in Tennessee that had silos coming out of the water. Seeking some thrill and adventure, one by one they climbed to the top of the silo and decided to jump off into the surrounding water. The last one to go was my mother, who had been overcome with fear. She sat at the top of the silo for over thirty minutes with no way down other than to jump. My dad and her friends were at the bottom talking her through it and encouraging her to take the jump. She said that she froze from fear and the longer she sat in the fear, the more difficult it became to make the jump. 

To be honest, I have been sitting in the fear for quite some time now waiting to start this joy journey. People closest to me have listened to my dreams and ideas in self-improvement, helping others and living intentionally - and I have to give them a big ole "sorry" for the wait! You see, I went on and on, over-analyzed, read my books, listened to my podcasts, went back and forth on my ideas and never took action. The reason why I never took action? Straight up, FEAR.

Fear people would judge me. Fear that no one would read it. Fear that I would be made fun of. Fear that I wouldn’t commit to keeping it up. Fear that I wouldn’t know what to say. Fear that this would all lead to nothing. Fear that some people know me as a “not so joyful Jordan”. I could come up with every excuse possible - because let’s be real, putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, and doing something you have never done before is freaking SCARY! I know I am not the only person who has some dreams they would love to come to fruition but are terrified out of their minds at failing or getting uncomfortable. So what do we do? We do nothing. We sit in our fear.

But think about all those times in life when you felt the fear and you did it anyway. How amazing did it feel afterwards? You ran that first marathon. You asked them out on a date. You shared that YouTube video of you singing. You actually made your first sale on a piece of your own artwork. You finally started that blog. You began your business. I think it is safe to say that taking the jump is always worth it - I am sure my mother would agree - but most of us are too scared to even START because of FEAR.

Well, here is the thing that I am learning: Procrastinating doing the thing that you so deeply desire to do is the easiest road to self-sabotage. I had to start writing this blog because if I didn’t I would go crazy with myself - and my friends/family would never take my word or ideas seriously again. Guys, I have no clue what this joy sharing thing is supposed to look like - but I am so grateful that I just took the jump to begin. I am already having so much more fun and feel more purpose-driven than I did just 3 days ago before I shared my first post.

So, what is my encouragement to you? You don’t have to have it all figured out - just start. Do something. Take one small action each day that gets you closer to that thing you so deeply desire to do. Write the lyric. Run that first mile. Get the website up. Start writing the cover letter. Prepare that monologue. Return that phone call. The clock is ticking. Let's get out of sitting in our fear and just do something towards our dreams - because JOY is found in the doing.

I get the most encouragement from others - so I would love to hear from YOU!  Share a comment below about the jump you took that freaked you out a bit (or a LOT), but made you grateful (and joyful) for feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” -Anais Nin, poet.

Sending you joy!

Jordan