A moment of Spontaneity

The world was my oyster. By the time my 23rd birthday had come and gone, it seemed there was nothing in the world that could stop me. One year later, University graduation was to culminate 4 years of post-secondary education, extra curricular and volunteer involvement, and loads of work experience.

Over time, the trials and tribulations of looking for the right relationship, the perfect career, and lots of money, found me at 37 wondering what life was really all about. Looking back, time had witnessed so many missed opportunities, and missteps, it was hard to believe so much had been packed into those lost years. Although there were no regrets, life seemed a whole lot harder than I had ever imagined it would be as a child.

Life had substantially settled down dramatically after taking a stable, stress-free job in Property Management a couple of years earlier. It seemed to do the trick; I was quickly promoted with a substantial pay raise. There were drawbacks though: having to stand on concrete for 8 hours, cleaning up other people's garbage, and doing the same thing, day after day. Despite this, it all seemed to calm my worried mind to know I had a job to come to every day, and a paycheque waiting at the end of 2 weeks.

Doing the 9 to 5 routine had somehow taken its toll on the overall quality of life. Every night, and every weekend was turning into the same humdrum affair as well: going for drinks, watching TV, surfing the net. In a sense, life had turned into a rut, and the future was looking to be exactly the same as the past and present. There were no exciting plans, no exotic vacations, nothing to look forward to. Many a soul have found themselves in this despairing place, and for as many souls, there are as many ways out of it, or further into it.

I woke up one morning of a day off, on a cold, rainy late Fall day in Vancouver, B.C. Winter was on it's way, a time when Vancouverites generally hibernate like groundhogs until late May. In a particularly good mood, my mind seemed to have a bit more of a positive attitude running through it. How would I spend my day off? Everyone else was working, and it seemed extra indulgent and special to do something while the city was busy in high rises and offices. Somehow, the regular options of going for a walk, or a drive laid way to something I hadn't done in over 15 years, something fantastic.

It was an extraordinary idea; maybe somehow I could recapture my youth, hit the reset button somehow, and jumpstart my life again. I immediately picked up the phone after a brief internet search, and called the phone number to register. "Yes," the young lady replied "we do have spaces, but you'll have to be here by no later than 3:30 pm." Since it was a little past 12 pm, a 2 1/2 hour drive to Whistler would give me plenty enough time to get there.

It wasn't until I was locked into a harness that I fully realized what I was doing. I was going to jump 160 feet off of a bridge into a canyon with frothing, angry, glacial fed water rushing through. Yes, I was about to bungee jump! I immediately began to question my motives from the morning, especially when I looked down.

One must maintain a cerebral approach to intentionally jumping off of a bridge, feet first, for fun. Your feet will never leave the safety of firm ground without intellectually knowing you will not be plunging to your death. That does not even measure up to the intense feeling of falling. Unlike a slow graceful descent of an airplane, a bungee jump in a canyon full of massive pines creates a sensation of a green blur. Regardless of all the reassuring thoughts, the mind still thinks it will be no more, and it is perfectly normal, and natural, for a grown man to scream like a little girl.

It is only until the sweet and reassuring pull of the bungee cord that one starts to feel safe again. Life as I knew it had changed, and I felt truly alive again for the first time in years.