As soon as I heard that Nepal had canyon swinging, I was ecstatic. What I pictured in my head sounded so fun! When I heard what it actually entailed, I wasn’t quite as excited anymore. I watched a few videos, and I was all set and ready to go again!
So for those of who are like I was and don’t know what canyon swinging is, let me enlighten you. You have a harness around your legs and waist with a rope attached to the middle. You jump off a ledge on the side of a suspension bridge that is 525 feet in the air. (It is the highest canyon swing in the world.) You freefall for 6 seconds at 93 mph, and then you begin the swinging part and get to enjoy the beautiful scenery around you. That’s it, easy as pie, right?
Well, I sure thought it sounded like the adventure of a lifetime. I’ve never considered myself to be afraid of heights. I love rollercoasters (as long as they don’t spin). I did a three-man swing at a summer camp when I was in high school. I zip lined through the rainforest in Nicaragua when I was in college, and I loved it! I thought I would be fine. I even thought I could and should do it alone, instead of swinging with a buddy.
Boy was I wrong!
I knew I would be nervous when I got up there. I have never enjoyed the feeling of my stomach dropping, so that was the part I was least looking forward to. The nerves started when people started spouting statistics about how high 525 feet was, in terms I could actually picture (such as 52 stories and almost 2 football fields). They got worse as I stood on the shaky suspension bridge and watched other friends jump from the ledge. And then, all of a sudden, it was my turn. I was nervous for sure, but nothing compared to the nerves I felt when I stood on the ledge with my feet halfway off and the guy behind me began counting down for me to jump. He got to one, and I froze. I couldn’t jump. I began crying, and no attempts at consolation or guilting me to jump helped.
I couldn’t do it.
It was the most embarrassing moment of my life…literally! This was something I had been wanting to do for a month, and then when I get the chance I succumbed to fear and panicked. It brought up countless times in my past when I had let fear cause me to quit something. I felt like a failure. I didn’t want to give in to the fear this time, but I knew I couldn’t make that jump by myself.
Thankfully, one of the people in my group was also going to be jumping by herself. She graciously offered to let me jump with her, wanting to help me conquer the ledge, if that’s what I wanted to do. It reminded me that so often God doesn’t intend for us to face difficult situations by ourselves, but instead He strategically places people in our lives to provide encouragement and love and a helping hand. He wants us to admit that we can’t control things on our own and to lean on other people, even if it means giving up our pride. So, that’s what I did. I gave up my pride and pushed past obstacles, and I made the decision to face the ledge once again, this time with a friend.
Y’all, with my wonderful friend by my side, I made the jump! I was scared, but I didn’t let that stop me this time. When the guy got to one, this time I didn’t hesitate. Instead, I let out a scream, and I jumped. The fall was still slightly terrifying, and I still didn’t enjoy the feeling of my stomach in my throat. Yet God was faithful once again, and I was rewarded with magical views and a sense of great accomplishment. I may never jump off that ledge again, but I can forever say that I conquered it! (I even have the t-shirt to prove it!)
***Pictures and videos to come
