Standing on the edge of the world’s highest bungee bridge, I learned that bravery isn’t the absence of fear, it’s choosing to jump anyway, especially when little eyes are watching.
What jumping off the world’s highest bungee taught me about fear, freedom, and setting the example.
I used to be terrified of heights.
Not “nervous” or “slightly uneasy”, properly scared. I avoided anything remotely high: lookouts, ladders, balconies. I’d freeze at the edge of anything that looked down, quite often crawling back to safety. So the idea of throwing myself off a bridge, specifically, the Bloukrans Bridge, the highest commercial bungee jump in the world, wasn’t exactly my idea of personal growth.
But life has a way of testing what you think you know about yourself.
There I was, harnessed up, standing on that ledge 216 meters above a gorge, looking down at nothing but wind and sky. My legs were shaking. My mouth was dry. My brain was already halfway back to the car.
Something shifted. My three boys were watching from the spectator deck…
In that moment, I realised: if I walk away, I’m teaching them that fear wins.
I’m teaching them that it’s okay to quit when things get hard.
That it’s okay to step back from the edge when life asks us to leap.
And that wasn’t the message I wanted to give them.
I wanted them to see courage in action.
I wanted them to witness what it looks like to stand face to face with fear - and jump anyway.
So I did.
I jumped.
And for a split second, it was everything I was afraid it would be - chaotic, intense, heart-stopping.
But then it was something else entirely, freeing.
As I fell, I wasn’t scared anymore. I was light. I was present. I was proud.
Not just for myself, but for what I showed my sons.
This jump wasn’t just about heights, it was about life.
Because fear is something we all feel.
But if we let it dictate our choices, we stay stuck.
We live on the bridge. Always wondering. Never leaping.
That day taught me something I’ll never forget:
Fear is temporary. Regret can last forever.
And sometimes, what sets us free isn’t the absence of fear,
It’s the choice to act anyway. Especially when little eyes are watching.
Are you standing on a bridge in your life right now?
Scared. Shaking. Wondering if you should leap?
Look around. Breathe.
Then remember this: you’re not just doing it for you.
Jump.
