Oct 25. 2014. FLY

“5-4-3-2-1-BUNGEE!”

I could not jump. Instead, I just fell from the sky. If I had jumped 3 meters from the spot, I might have felt committed suicide by jumping from the 111m heights. The count was so fast, and my legs and arms weakened and stumbled; in the moment of “BUNGEE!” I almost collapsed and bungee crews gently pushed me.

From the Victoria Falls Bridge:
the ground was cracked under 111m.

Victoria Falls scenery made me feel faint. How can I jump from this height? The bridge was even wobbly when the car was passing by. Oh… should I do it? Special force troops receive proficiency pay for dropping from a high altitude, but I paid exorbitant price with a lot of risk for plummeting to the sallow water. Victoria Falls was so dry in October; I expected my clothes would get soaked with water, but only sizzling heat worn me out. Nevertheless, I wanted to do it. No, more exactly, I had to do it because I needed to triumph over all fears in my mind. I weighed myself on a scale. Oh, I lost 4kgs! I have been suffering from serious constipation for a whole week, so I have only been drinking juice and eating some fruits since last Wednesday. (Thanks to losing weight, my abdominal muscle became visible.) Please, go away, constipation! Bungee jumping will beat you!

When I arrived at the bungee jumping area, I saw a fearsome message.

“Please dive out as far as you can: more than 3 meters. A good dive reduces the chance of injury and will make your jump more enjoyable.”

How can I do a standing broad jump more than 3 meters? At that time, bungee crew was not there because of the lunch time, so I had to wait almost 1 hour; waiting for diving out made me more nervous and scared. I practiced jumping on the ground and thought a lot of unnecessary anxiety. But I had to manage to set down. How many times have I been hesitating to do something in my life? What am I afraid of? I will blow off all stresses. There is no next time to do that. It must be the highlights of my life, at this very moment. Overcoming so many frightened emotions – 'What if the rope snapped? What if the rope tangled? What if I were shocked and got a heart attack? What if I peed my pants?' – I finally hopped to the bungee point. My original plan was not to look down because it would be just crazy to see, and stare at the front instead. But the front itself was also horrifying, so I closed my eyes. I wished I could FLY elegantly from the sky, just like Lala Croft from Tomb Raider, but it was not be like my heart.

Anyway, I succeeded! I was feeling the power of gravity and air resistance about a few seconds. I lightly opened my eyes and stretched the limbs at last. Wow, I am falling! Right after jumping (well, bungee falling), my mind was much more at ease. I bounced a few times; I just fell a half way between the bridge and water. I wanted falling more…

Next time, I will go skydiving. I had thought myself that I would not be a person who enjoys extreme sports, but I realized today that it was worth doing it. Life is short at best and I feel sorry if I spare my bones. The only difference between leaping off a cliff to kill oneself and jumping off the bridge to enjoy bungee jumping was safety equipment on the ankle and waist. The only thing I could do was to rely on bungee crews’ instruction. Bungee jumping was a special case, but I have already been surviving all perils; whenever getting on airplane, vehicle, train, bus, and walking on the road, I totally rely on my life to pilots, drivers and myself. An accident always happens somewhere, and all I can do is just to pray that this would not happened to me. Human being is weak-kneed under the natural disaster and furthermore, the laws of nature. There would be nothing that I can change the operations of Nature. All I can do is to enjoy every seconds of the moment, just like at the very moment while I was falling. 

Living life like a bungee jumping: I hope the life of the people will be always exciting.