Late that night, I lay in bed going through the day’s events in my head. I came to the conclusion that I would simply go through life without ever swimming in the deep end, that it was a pointless skill anyway. I had almost completely convinced myself when there was a soft knock on the door. It was my dad.

            “Great.” I thought to myself. Mom had obviously filled him in with all the details of the day, and I had never felt so ashamed in my life as he came in and sat at the foot of my bed.

            “You know,” he said quietly. “When I was young, I was very scared of heights. In fact, I never even went on top of my brother’s bunk bed until I was thirteen.”

            This was news to me, and I sat there in disbelief, listening.

            “It wasn’t till one day your grandpa came in and told me, “Son, its time you face your fears, because if you don’t do it now you’ll end up living your entire life that way.”

            “So what did you do?” I asked curiously.

            “Well your grandpa set up all the pillows at the bottom of the bunk bed, and as I climbed up the ladder he kept on saying how there was nothing to be afraid of. And he was right! When I got to the top I realized how much I had been missing out on, how cool it was up here. I could look over the entire bedroom – I felt so big!

            “So I know how difficult it is to face your fears son, but remember that as hard as it may be, it’s always worth it when you get to the other side.”

            I thanked my dad for his wisdom, and after saying goodnight and turning off my light, he left me alone to think about what he just said and I realized how true it was. I had nothing to be afraid of! If my sister of five could do it what was holding me back? As I drifted off to sleep that night a new determination was burning inside me…

            The instructor shouts, “Three!” above the noise of the plane, and I feel a strong hand on my shoulder. I turn around, looking eye to eye with my father.

            “Are you ready for this?” He says with a smile on his face.

            I return the smile and state, “Yea old man, are you?”

            “Let’s do it.” He replies.

At that moment the instructor finishes his countdown, hollering out, “One – Jump!” and together my dad and I leap out the side of the plane into the open abyss of the atmosphere below.