To me, courage is the strength to take a leap of faith even though you don’t know what might be lying below. I once had the courage to do what fear and anxiety were guiding me away from. This courage was jumping 16 feet off of Jaws Bridge into the dark, rocky, thrashing sea. For years I had toyed with the idea of jumping off Jaws Bridge on our annual trip to Martha’s Vineyard. At first, fear took over my body and forced me to say, “No way am I jumping off of that bridge!” But as the years progressed, my fear of this bridge slowly started to evaporate. The “no’s” turned into “maybe’s” and the “maybe’s” finally turned into “yes’s.” I was ready. I called my friend Grace and asked her if she would like to jump with me. She said “yes.” When …show more content…
My mom came over to take pictures. She helped me stand on the thin rail. My heart thumped out of my chest and the worry that had sunk into my bones earlier suddenly rushed up to my head, creating a million strings of words. You’re going to DIE! It’s going to HURT! What if you land on the ROCKS! What if a SHARK eats you! What if a boat sails under the bridge right under you when you jump and you BREAK YOUR FACE! What if the RIPTIDE DROWNS you?! I tried my best to tangle these strings together and tuck the knot away in a cabinet of long forgotten …show more content…
“ So when you’re falling, try to stay straight because it stings if you don’t.” The cabinet burst open, and a string slipped from the knot. It’s going to HURT! I jammed the string back into my mental knot as quickly as I could. I tried to keep my voice leveled as I said “Ok.” We stood up straight on the rail, but I didn’t let go of my mom’s hand. I held Grace’s hand in the other. “Jump on three ok?” Grace said. “Wait, wait!” My mom shouted. “I need to start the video!” I tried to gain control of my senses as she took out her phone. It will be o- “Ok, now you can go,” My mom said excitedly. “Go on three!” The it will be ok, that was forming into my head slipped out of my desperate grasp and shapeshifted into, It definitely will NOT be ok! And just like that, my string of hope turned into a string of fear shoving the other hope trying to creep it’s way into my mind, into my forgotten cabinet, while the knot of fear swarmed my brain. You’re going to DIE! What if a SHARK eats you! What if a boat sails under the bridge right under you when you jump and you BREAK YOUR FACE! What if the RIPTIDE DROWNS you?! “One…” It’s going to HURT!