The last thing I did on my last day of vacation before packing up my bags and heading to the airport was jumping off of Devil’s Rock at Lake Willoughby in Vermont.
Devil’s Rock is a diving spot for daring locals and vacationers. It earned its name because of a giant red-horned devil holding a pitchfork painted along the side of the rock while the front of the rock faces out toward the lake. My friends and I saw some college kids jump off it and survive while we were kayaking on the lake the day before and we all vowed to return the next day and jump off.
Needless to say, it was easier said than done.
When we got to the rock, it was a lot less straightforward than I expected. The top of the rock wasn’t flat, but instead sloped down toward the water, which was about a 15-20 foot drop into the lake. To the immediate left and right of the rock was pretty shallow water, which would likely lead to serious injury or even death if you jumped off at the wrong angle.
On top of that, the water was absolutely freezing. This wasn’t Ohio for the past week with heat advisories in the upper 90s, it was northern Vermont and the lake was fed by streams that came from melted snow on the mountains that trickled down into the larger body of water.
A friend swam out away from the rock to scope out the most ideal location to land after jumping, and then it was time to take the plunge.
I’m not going to lie. It was absolutely terrifying.
I’ve never been good with heights. Being tall already, I have a very high center of gravity. I don’t like ladders. I don’t like being on ledges where I don’t have much support or anything to grab onto in case I slip. If I get too close to the edge of something extremely high, I can get a feeling of intense vertigo where I feel like I’m almost drawn over the rail.
But there was no rail with Devil’s Rock. There was nothing to save you if you slipped and fell. You basically had to slowly creep down toward the edge, being extra careful due to the downward slope, because if you fell off instead of jumping off, we’re talking shattered bones if you’re lucky.
And to top it all off, I had to remove my glasses and I’m practically blind without them. Everything was a big gray blur near my feet, then I was aiming for the big blue blur in the open space in front of me.
As I dropped to my butt and slowly scooted toward the edge, everything in my brain was screaming at me that this was a really bad idea. Alarm bells were going off inside my head. My arm and neck hairs stood up. My legs were trembling. The world started to slow down as my adrenaline spiked. Fight or flight mode kicked in and the fear of death electrified my body.
So what happened next?
I ignored every survival instinct, every hazard light and I stood up and leaped off with all my strength.
For a brief moment, I hung in the air, alarm bells still ringing in my brain. Then I crashed into the lake with a big cannonball, landing so hard the back of my legs smarted for the next day. The shocking cold sensation pulsed through my body as I was immediately hit with about a 30-degree difference between the air and water temperatures. Scarily, I actually just barely grazed the bottom of the lake before I kicked back to the surface.
But I had done it!
It’s hard to explain what happened next. I had a feeling of immense satisfaction course through me, that intense feeling of overcoming your fears and rising to the occasion. It’s something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I stood by while both of my buddies also jumped off the rock safely and conquered their own fears. We all shared a moment of exuberance together, thankful we’d had the guts.
As I got on my flight to come home, it hit me that everyone in life has their own Devil’s Rock. It may not be as literal as what I did, but we all have that big thing in life that we’re afraid to do that we want to overcome.
Maybe it’s asking the cute girl out despite the intense fear of being rejected. Maybe it’s finally gritting your teeth and asking your boss for a well-deserved raise. Maybe it’s the idea of going out on your own and starting that dream business you’ve always wanted to attempt.
Sure, it can be absolutely terrifying. Fear exists in humans for a reason. Fear of danger, fear of negative outcomes are how we’ve survived as a species for millions of years. But sometimes we need to overcome those fears if we want to take that next big leap forward.
Sylvester Stallone risked everything to demand he play the lead in his script for “Rocky” despite his lack of serious acting experience. The early American astronauts risked their lives strapped to tons of rocket fuel in the pursuit of scientific and human achievement. Amelia Earhart’s risks made her the most famous female pilot of all time and did a world of good for proving women can belong in “men’s” fields.
Your challenges don’t have to be as immense as the all-time greats, but maybe hearing about how I overcame my fears will help you at least take a step toward taking that next big risk in your life.
Good luck!
