I used to be terrified of heights. Not nervous or slightly uneasy — properly scared. I avoided anything remotely high: lookouts, ladders, balconies. So the idea of throwing myself off the Bloukrans Bridge, the highest commercial bungee jump in the world, wasn’t exactly my idea of personal growth.
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.
Then 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. That it’s okay to quit when things get hard.
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.
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.
That day taught me something I’ll never forget: fear is temporary. Regret can last forever. Sometimes, what sets us free isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the choice to act anyway.
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.
Back to Reflections
