A Leap of Faith
This past weekend we visited Agia Napa for our weekend excursion. By far this has been my favorite adventure so far, and not because of the party scene, though that had its merits. This part of the island is by far the most beautiful we’ve visited and ended up creating a very enlightening experience.
Saturday, a big group of us rented some ATVs and headed out towards the sea caves. This is of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been—and the most exciting. The sea caves are within cliffs that are very high, and very jumpable. There’s a lot of fairly deep water with sand on the bottom to land in, but at first I was hesitant to jump. Actually, more than hesitant, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to; it looked way too high and I had already cut my feet on some rocks the day before.
Photo courtesy of Jennie Starner
Of course, I ended up jumping. Twice. Peer pressure probably had something to do with it (everyone was doing it), but soon I discovered that I needed to do it for myself as much as anything. The first jump was as much fun as anything I’ve ever done and twice as much of an adrenaline rush. Halfway down you start to realize that this fall is a lot farther than you first thought, then you hit the water and feel a mixture of relief and a little bit of a sting. The second time, I was once again sure I wasn’t going to go. I thought once was enough to say I did it. But again, I did a running start and bounded off the end, towards what, I was sure was my death for a second time.
Hi mom!
Climbing up the rocks to get back to the top, I started to realize something that Thanos, one of our GLS directors, mentioned at our graduation. He said that we have yet to realize the ways in which we have grown on this trip, and the parts of us that have changed. I really hadn’t noticed much growth or personal change until this weekend, and the moment I was climbing back up after my second jump.
I am not a particularly daring person, at least not anymore. As a child I was as adventurous and gutsy as any kid not aware of his or her own mortality. But somewhere between childhood and young adulthood I lost a lot of that. Yes, I still love to explore—but I don’t love to push my own boundaries. And jumping off of those cliffs did just that, and a lot more. I feel like I’ve conquered not only nature, but also my own expectations for myself. I fought fear and I won, and came out not only more self-aware but also more proud of myself. The cliffs may have pushed me into realizing these things, but I believe the entire trip has been leading me to this point, and I couldn’t be happier.