13. If Your Friends Jumped Off A Cliff, You Should Too

Cinque Terre, literally translating to Five Lands, is a cute array of Italian coastal towns. Some of these towns are notorious for being a good location to go cliff jumping. This summer really was one for the books- I expanded my comfort zone a lot. But, I didn’t jump off a cliff in Italy.

If you look closely, you can see people sun-bathing on sharp rocks and those getting ready to throw themselves off them (all for fun of course). 

The opportunity was perfect. It was good weather and tons of grade school kids were doing it too. Yet, I already hated water (I don’t as much anymore). The cliffs had rugged edges. Everyone was watching as people one by one plunged down into a murky abyss. No supervision. But some confidantes were jumping off the cliff over and over again. I felt self conscious. I didn’t want to freak out mid fall and create a scene of havoc. I didn’t want to land incorrectly or slip as I tried to climb up the cliff. But why? This corner of cliffs was filled with a bunch of strangers. In case I did create a scene, the passersby may laugh or notice, but chances are they’d forget about the incident the next day. They’d forget my face. They’d forget everything except their own experiences. I wouldn’t even run into me ever again.

But for whatever reason, I held back. I justified it saying that I’d do it the next time the opportunity presented itself, but honestly, there is no next time for the exact situation you’re in right now. There will be no next time for being in Italy with the same group of people. Of course, it’s possible to come across opportunities similar to this, but it will never be quiet the same.

I think my title is a bit of an exaggeration, because not all situations should be evaluated with a “there’s no other time for this than now” mentality. Safety is a big factor, and my fear of the lack of safety has a bigger influence on me than I’d like to admit. If I were to repeat that day again, I may have made the same decision- to hold off. We all are allowed to make our own judgements and assess risk. We can be more cautious of some things and more lenient of others.