The High Dive

Do you remember as a kid looking at the high dive and being equally excited and terrified?

I do. As a kid, I could imagine myself climbing the ladder, I could imagine myself standing at the top and getting into position. I could imagine bouncing and letting my feet leave the board. I could imagine the graceful lines of my body entering the water.

But do you know what I never did: ACTUALLY DIVE!

I may have attempted to try a small dive off the side of the pool, or maybe even a small diving board. But to climb to the top of the high dive through my own doubts and fear and excitement, to have people see me standing there and attempt to jump in…ahhh no thanks. What would they think of me in my swimsuit? What if I tripped, or slipped, or worse yet, froze? What if I belly-flopped or sucked all the pool water into my nose?

The real question here is: what if I looked foolish???

If I’m honest with myself, I avoid anything that I don’t know for sure I can do. Take risks? Pssh. Not me. No way. I’ll just watch twenty people dive and claim I’m “studying their technique” so I can eventually (most likely not) dive in. I’ll encourage all my friends to try a high dive. I’ll cheer loudly for them and even give them tips. But ACTUALLY DIVE??? NOPE!

Here’s my “high dive” dream: to run a retreat and become an enneagram teacher and life coach. Whew! Ok, I admitted it to the entire world: “Hi, my name is Amie and I want to take a risk.”

So then…now what?

I’ve been wrestling with taking “the next step,” trying to figure out what I need to do to move forward. I want to turn my dreams into reality. I want to take a risk and have adventures. And I can dream up some pretty big dreams…some beyond my financial reality. So then I stop and say, “I’ll do (insert dream here) when I have more (money, time, support, etc). And I comfortably tuck said dream away for the future. Everything is safe when stored in the future category. No risks are too big, no failure to be heard of, and no problem insurmountable.

But…the future isn’t reality. And I’ve been trying to challenge myself to live more in the present; to start climbing up the ladder to the diving board instead of telling everyone that I’d like to be a diver someday. It hit me that if I’m dreaming of becoming an Enneagram teacher, life coach and owning a retreat center, I could maybe find a business coach to help me get started.

And then a question popped into my head:

“What would I tell myself to do?”

I would tell myself to put a foot on the first step of that ladder. I think you should too. I have no plans to be at the top of the metaphorical high dive this week or even this year. But I am actually going to start climbing the ladder and I think you should too. Let’s take a risk this week to pursue our dreams, even if we don’t think we have the resources to get us there yet.

Here’s my first step: Writing. Every day. If I don’t make time every day for myself, no one else will. Also, if I don’t set boundaries, I know I’ll get sucked into Project Runway or Fixer Upper reruns. I’m tired of simply watching people pursue their dreams. I may not have a retreat, but I can still offer hospitality to all those who enter my home. I may not be an Enneagram teacher or even have the funds to take a course, but I can read a book or listen to a podcast about the Enneagram. And I may not be a life coach, but I can choose to ask myself the tough questions that I would ask a client.

What’s your first step?

Have you admitted out loud what your dream is? Better yet, have you even told yourself that it’s okay to want your dream? Start there. Allow yourself to believe you are worthy of taking risks, falling and getting back up again, and jumping off the high dive into whatever your heart desires.

What’s your “high dive” dream?