For my Critical Theory class we read a story by Sherman Alexie called, “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” The story had a lot of interesting hidden details, but my favorite part was a section about a character named Thomas “flying.” All of the young boys wanted to fly, but they were too afraid to jump off. However, Thomas was willing to jump, and for a moment, he flew. He fell and broke his arm in two places in the process, but he still flew. My favorite lines were, “Everybody has dreams about flying. Thomas flew. One of his dreams came true for just a second, just enough to make it real.” That part makes me really emotional because that’s what life's all about.
Life's full of decisions; it’s all about the moment right before you jump. It seems so much easier to stay where we are, and it’s definitely safer, but is it worth it to stay? I argue that it’s not. It’s always worth it to jump, even if you fall instead of fly. Having that experience is what’s worth it in the end. And if it works, you end up somewhere better than you were before; you achieve what you wanted, and you’re better off because of it. In short, you fly.
Of course, life doesn’t always work out the way you want. Worst case scenario is you fall and get hurt, perhaps really hurt. You might even regret the jump because of the consequences. Maybe it feels like it wasn’t worth it. But you know what? You jumped. You had that experience. And you are better off because you had the experience, even if it hurt because you learned a lesson. You grew as a person. You’re a different person than you were before, not that stagnant person waiting to make a decision and never making it. You still flew, even if for only a short while.
See, the thing is, we always have to land. Whether we fly for a while or for only a moment, we always are going to fly and we are always going to land; you just have to prepare for the landing. The point isn’t how long you fly for or even how you land. The point is the fact you jumped. You looked out at the future, stared it in the face, and you didn’t back down. You took charge of your own life. That’s the point. Your life isn’t measured by how many times you fell instead of flew; it’s measured by whether or not you took the jump.
Although I can’t speak for everyone, I personally believe that at the end of your life when you look back, you won’t regret the times you fell; you’ll regret the times you stayed where you were. Because, if you stay where you are, you’ll never know. I think that’s a big reason why people actually don’t jump—because they don’t know the outcome or what will happen. The unknown is scary, but at least there is one thing you will know. You’re going to go somewhere. You’re going to have an experience that’s going to be worth it, even if it has consequences. You’re going to fly, even if it’s only for a moment, and that’s all it takes for your dreams to become reality.
