Jump Scared

Post written by Aaron Bouwens.

On a wall in my office I have a quote posted from the book, Entrepreneurial Faith by Kirbyjon Caldwell and Walt Kallestad with Paul Sorensen. The quote, “If you cannot jump brave, jump scared.” Fear often keeps us from venturing out into new spaces. I have become convinced greatness is so rare because people are held captive by fear, and do not jump.

Security and comfort are huge driving forces in our lives. When an opportunity comes up there is a filter within us that measured the level to which our security and comfort will be altered. If the risk is too high, we let the opportunity pass. At this point the potential greatness is sacrificed because of fear. If I think about the opportunities missed too often I can start to get depressed. Which breads an additional fear, which in turn limits my risk-taking again. In the end so many of us live lives where we dream about taking risks, we dream about jumping, but we never do.

I can remember the first time I climbed the ladder of the high dive. Once on the top and at the edge, I had two competing fears. First I was convinced if I jumped I would surely die. Second, if I didn’t jump I would not measure up the rest of the group, and that camp crush, who were waiting on the raft below. I was swimming in fear, 12 feet above the water. I resolved to jump, if only I could get my legs to respond to the desperate pleading on my mind. With a deep breath, believed to be my last, I catapulted myself off the end of the board. In the excitement of flying through the air, fear washed away. Even as I plunged into the water, and felt the cold layer of water deep beneath the surface, I realized my fear could have kept me from the joy I was experiencing.

Anyone who is striving to get the most out of live walks this line of fear on a regular basis. The question is not if I will be afraid, the question is will I jump even if I am scared. May we be a people who do not live at the edge of the high dive. May we be people who in the midst of fear fling ourselves in to the great unknown. May we experience the joy of life as we chase God and all the possibilities which lie just off the end of the high dive.

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