Cliff Jumping

I was in Colorado the other week for work. One of the afternoons, everyone at the meeting had some time off to go and explore. I, being easily bored, chose o go white water rafting. We were staying in Steamboat Springs and the only river close was the Yampa, instead of rafting on the Yampa, we were being taken to the Colorado River.. Awesome I thought. Little did I know it was a 1.5 hour drive to the river. Fortunately my colleagues are as easily bored as I am and in Colorado, they have a wonderful law that allows you to drink beer in 15 passenger vans. Glorious!

We picked up two cases of beer and were off on our adventure. The adventure began... not in the river, but on the road to the river. Our driver was a wee bit crazy and I often found myself white knuckled and hanging on... praying that we didn't slide off the mountains. I had decision, breathe deeply or drink more beer with the small hope that beer will help me not care that I am on the ride of my life.

So we barely got to the river (there was an invident where our driver pointed to a very deep gorge and said look down there. Meanwhile... the van was veering over there.).

The rafting was fun, but not so adventurous and the Colorado River was cold... very cold. So in lieu of any big rapids, we decided to jump off of cliffs instead.

Most people, when jumping off cliffs, are rationale. The stand at the top, look down, contemplate how to jump (how far out) and decide if this is something they really want to do. Me... no. I just walked up and kept going. I didn't even stop to jump... I just went over the edge. Everyone thought that I fell (which... knowing me wouldn't be a shock) but no, I just walked right off the cliff.

I did, however, rethink my decision when I'm still falling and falling and falling... waiting for the bitter cold water to hit my feet. My feet finally hit and I was exhilarated. The adrenaline was running through my body and I was pumped. What fun!

Lesson Learned - When someone tells you to go jump off a cliff, don't be afraid, do it you'll most likely enjoy it, but take a moment to pause and evaluate before you take a leap. There is a fine line between jumping and falling.