When the idea of going bungee jumping was first mooted by a friend who is an ardent Black Scottish Adventurer, I didn’t make anything of it, other than it being ‘one of those wild life experiences I had lurking on my bucket list’, waiting for a date and time when I would be ready to tick it off. Without any thought to the requirements — mental, physical and emotional — to jumping off that platform, I said, “yes, why not? Sign me up”. Until the bus brought us to the entrance of the hole we had to walk down to go up the platform, and things started moving around in my stomach.
In my usual manner, I began sliding down a mental cascade of thoughts which happens each time I want to do something daring. I was asking myself what could fatally go wrong, and if it happened, how bad would my death look? I remember deep in a limestone cave in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2017, I was wondering how deep an underground river runs, and if it was worth falling off the ledge for. Thankfully, I spoke to one of my hosts/guides, and they warned me that it would take nearly 12 days for any body to wash up when the river runs overland, while they kept a close eye on me for the rest of the visit. Anyways, on this day, I spent very little time on such thoughts, and spent more to marvel at the engineering around building the platform, the rope combinations, e.t.c. The safety measures on that platform for the time I had been there, I had never seen anywhere outside certain hospitals in all of Nigeria.
Standing on the edge of a platform, heart pounding, palms sweating, I took a deep breath and leaped into the void. In that moment of free fall, as the ground rushed up to meet me, I discovered that bungee jumping is more than just an adrenaline rush — it’s a profound metaphor for life itself. The safety net, both literal and figurative, was my first revelation. In bungee jumping, the cord is your lifeline, carefully calculated and tested to ensure your safety. Similarly, in life, we often underestimate the importance of our support systems — family, friends, and community — until we find ourselves in free fall. These safety nets catch us when we stumble, providing reassurance and strength to take risks and push our boundaries.
As I plummeted downward, terror gripped me. But just when I thought all was lost, the cord tensed, and I began to rebound. This moment of change, from falling to rising, taught me a valuable lesson about resilience. Life often throws us into seeming freefall — job losses, bankruptcy, mourning, heartbreaks, or personal setbacks. Yet, if we hold on and trust in our ability to bounce back, we often find ourselves rising again, sometimes even higher than before. The illusion of control was shattered the instant I stepped off the platform. In that moment, I realized that no matter how much we plan or prepare, life has a way of sweeping us off our feet. Bungee jumping forced me to surrender to the experience, to trust in forces beyond my control. This lesson extends to our daily lives, where we must learn to navigate uncertainty and adapt to unexpected circumstances with grace and flexibility.
Perhaps the most profound insight came from pushing myself to the very edge of my comfort zone. Standing on that platform, every instinct screamed at me to step back, to choose safety. But by challenging myself to take that leap, I discovered reserves of courage I never knew I possessed. This experience reinforced the importance of regularly pushing our boundaries, of seeking out experiences that scare us just a little. It’s at these cusps of comfort and fear that we truly grow, learning more about ourselves and our capabilities. Bungee jumping, with its heart-stopping thrill and moment of pure vulnerability, serves as a powerful reminder of life’s unpredictability and beauty. It teaches us to trust in our safety nets, to believe in our ability to rebound from setbacks, to surrender control when necessary, and to continually challenge ourselves. These lessons, learned in a few seconds of free fall, have the power to transform how we approach the many leaps of faith we take throughout our lives.
