I remember a day at the public pool when I was maybe five or six years old. My parents were in the water, encouraging me to jump in while I lingered at the edge of the pool, taking a step forward, peeking into the frighteningly deep water, and stepping back again. It went on for quite a while, with my parents repeating, “Come on, it’s safe, the water will carry you, and we are here to catch you,” but I was still hesitating. Then I heard a voice behind me, somebody watching the whole thing, saying: “If you jump, I buy you an ice cream,” at that instant, I jumped. The ice cream had, of course, absolutely nothing to do with the experience of jumping and being propelled by the jump itself to the surface of the water, but it was a very successful and skillful means to let go of my worries. Many decisions in life are like that. We reflect and ponder and hesitate, trying to come up with a solution that will enable us to keep standing at the pool edge while at the same time feeling the richness and wholeness of being immersed in water. We are already the constantly waving ocean, but we try to keep ourselves apart because we fear getting wet. We want the fullness of life but are afraid of letting it happen without putting our conditions on it.
💜