A different way to learn

I recently returned from a trip to Asia, during which time I achieved one of my little goals in life, to complete the worlds highest bungy jump.

This is in Macau from the Macau tower and while I've bungy jumped 3 times prior to this, and found that each one gave me new motivation and inspiration in achieving various things, this one was almost the opposite and was initially a big disappointment; not least because it cost so much to do.

It is a very high perch to leap from (233m or 61 stories) and the usual awe about the height didn't kick in until I had shuffled to the edge and had a heap of nothing in front of me. The usual rush kicked in as my body passed the point of no return as I fell forward, but after that it was just another experience.
There was no fear, no nervousness, no adrenalin hit (seriously !!!), and that was the thing that was most obviously missing, even while I was in freefall.

It was good, don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed it; I'd do it again and again if money was no object, but something was missing.

On the ferry back to Hong Kong it occurred to me that while I had learned a lot about myself on previous jumps, I HAD inadvertently learned something about myself again in a much different way, through the absence of a thrill.

The lesson I had learned was that I needed to focus my attention on the longer term , important things in life that really mattered to my personal growth and development rather than going for the immediate gratification that comes from something like a bungy jump.
It obviously wasn't going to be enough excitement for me any more.

It seemed to me that developing skills that will make me more useful to others, such as becoming more self aware and taking better control of my behaviour, attitudes, interaction with others and generally working on achieving purpose in life, was the way to go.
I've always wanted to work towards that end, but there was always something else, anything else that was more immediate that would take my attention.

So I take a different path now. I haven't worked out how yet and I don't know how successful I'll be, but it's more clarity about what I need to do to achieve the special things in life.

At 51 years of age, it's taken a while, but there's still a heap of time left for me to be of some use to my family, friends and anyone else that I can assist along the way.

Wish me luck!