You are eagerly awaiting

What if?

For weeks you wait for this moment and now you finally get to; your first free splash in the pool. You wet your toes along the shore and ask those who have jumped what the water is like. Joyfully splashing, they shout for you to come too. It's fun and you also want to jump as fast as you can. But then suddenly there is that fear. Because the water is deep, you start to doubt. What if you get water in your eyes. What if this, what if that. You let go of your mischievous joy and start worrying about all the ‘what if’ cases.

What is the worst that can happen?

You decide not to jump after all and quickly run back to mother. It sometimes seems like growing up involves restricting yourself. You build walls around yourself and no longer dare to jump. No longer allowing the enthusiasm that made you move in the first place. Why don't you just jump. You can always go back, you might be wet but dry anyway. At most, it will take you some time but you will be an experience richer.

We close ourselves off from our freedom

Many ‘kids’ don't dare jump anymore. They are no longer reminded to be carefree happy but to think. Not to feel but to dive into reason. The ‘what if’ generation we have become. We too are children, we have only a physical body which may be aged by now. But our soul is young, like a child. Mother earth, father God, we are like the children who are allowed to play in their paradise. But we no longer dare. We do not close our eyes to ‘the silence within ourselves’, but we close them to the possibilities we have. The freedom we are allowed to experience and grasp.

Join those who do dare

The pool is there to be enjoyed. To play in. But rather we watch others having fun, forgetting ourselves in the process. That we get to participate in the creation of life. Experiencing fun. Dare to feel young again. Dare to experience again what it is like to be carefree and carefree like a child. To take that step. Just jumping. What can really happen to you? The water will catch your jump and your body will automatically find the surface again.

Find the tension right

The water makes you feel free. As if you are weightless. It gives you the freedom to move. Maybe you'll even dare to jump off the springboard next time. Make it a little more exciting for yourself. Don't just wet your toes. Jump in! Go for it! Live your life to have fun and enjoy it in the process. Life is too beautiful to just watch from the sidelines.

Previously published on 8 January 2014