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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, if I had a magic TV that only streamed one movie I would want that movie to be the Christopher Nolan film, Inception, and I believe if you are learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson I learned by jumping off tower.
Today’s Fun Fact of the Day: The Pakokku clan of Burma tattoo their bodies with cobra venom and viper venom as a form of inoculation against the venom.
Here’s What I leaned yesterday.
If you’re a long time listener to this podcast then you’ll most likely remember that I grew up with two brothers. My step-brother was one year ahead of me and my real brother was two years ahead of me. While I was not at all considered cool or popular, my step-brother was. He was smart, charming, athletic, outgoing, and good looking. He was one of the most popular kids in the whole school, let alone his class.
There were a lot of times that I wished I was as popular as he was, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. As we got older I got used to it. But still there were times when I couldn’t help but be jealous.
Our school was very small and didn’t have a lot of money. So for the senior trip every year, the seniors would go to Branson, MO. It wasn’t the greatest place on the planet for a group of high school seniors, but it was a lot better than our small town. I don’t remember the exact month that the senior trip was taken, but it was in the spring before school was out for the summer. Before my step-brother’s class trip, I didn’t think he could get any more popular. However, he reached a whole new level of coolness when he returned from his trip.
My step-brother, Jason, and his friend Stephen had done something on their trip that the whole school was talking about. Not only was the whole school talking about it, they were talking about it in a way that made it seem like Jason and Steven were heroes, even legends. What had they done? They had bungee jumped.
That’s right, bungee jumped. Apparently there was a place right in the middle of the strip where you could bungee jump. Steven and Jason had managed to talk their entire class into gathering around the tower and watch as they jumped off the raised platform with only a big rubber band between them and the pavement. No one in our town had dared to bungee jump before so their bravery was evident and thus, they were legends.
As I heard Jason tell the story over and over again and as I saw the reactions around school, I knew what I had to do. The next year when my class made our trip to Branson, I would grab one or two of my friends, encourage my class to gather around, and take the leap from loser to legend.
I thought about that bungee jump quite a few times over the next year and I even mentioned it to a few of my friends. By the time our senior trip rolled around, my friends James and Charles were ready to take the leap with me.
Finally the day came for our trip. I had no idea where the bungee jump place was except that it was in a really popular area of Branson and that the chaperones were known to take the whole group to that area for shopping and eating.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long. On our first day in Branson we all got off the bus and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There in the very same parking lot was my goal. Reaching high into the sky above Branson, Missouri was a bungee tower. I checked with my friends to see if they were still up for the challenge. They were all in! I then got the attention of my classmates and told them that Charles, James, and I were going to scale the tower and bungee jump! I encouraged them to gather around and watch.
Much to my delight, they nodded in agreement and gathered around the tower. Charles, James, and I went inside to pay. The process took longer than I expected. We had to read a long legal document, sign a waiver, and get crammed into one of the most uncomfortable devices I have ever worn. The whole process took about 20-30 minutes. Once all 3 of us were ready, we were escorted outside and taken to the top of the tower.
There we were given some final instructions on how to lean, position our body, and what to expect. You know how they tell you not to look down when you’re up high? Well I did, and what I saw below sucked all my energy away.
Guess what I saw? If you said I saw an empty parking lot, you’re right.
There was no gathering of my peers. Nope. Not even some of my other close friends were there. If there was no one there to witness my leap, how could I become a legend? You’ve heard the expression, “If a tree falls in a forest and nobody’s there, does it still make a sound?” Yup. I was about to be that tree.
I approached the edge of the tower, looked down at the vacant parking lot below, and took the long leap to perpetual obscurity.
Here’s what I learned.
Looking back on it now, I feel totally dumb. I mean, what was it I was trying to gain again? I was trying to become popular? For who? My classmates? Those classmates that I wouldn’t see again after we graduated?
On top of that, nobody ever talked about Jason and Steven after they were gone. They weren’t really legendary. The only place they achieved legend status was in my mind. My jealous, insecure, misguided mind.
Later that day Charles, James, and I caught up with our friends. We asked them where they had gone and why they hadn’t stayed to watch us jump. They told us that they got tired of waiting and they were bored. Ouch.
So was the bungee jump a total waste? Nope.
Even though it was over in an instant, I really enjoyed the jump. It was exciting! It’s still one of the more adventurous things I’ve ever done. It’s a great conversation item too. We got a t-shirt once we completed the jump, and that t-shirt started more than one conversation back in the day.
However, the best thing about it was that it was something that I got to enjoy with my friends, James and Charles. I didn’t share it with my other friends, I didn’t share it with my classmates, and I didn’t share it with the chaperones. I only shared with my two buds. I think that’s really cool.
So my lesson today is that we are often misguided in our motives for doing things. We may be trying to impress the wrong people, trying to be like someone else, or trying to force people to see us for something we’re not. The truth is, those efforts are all a waste of time and energy.
Instead, we should enjoy life with those who like us for who we are, focus on making those relationships stronger, and enjoy the memories being made in the process.
After all, those are the types of people we want by our side when it comes time to make a leap of faith.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
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