You Jump, I Jump

One thing you should probably know about me is that I am ridiculously obsessed with the movie Titanic. I don't have cable, and I've only got about 20 movies in my apartment, and Titanic is one of them, so suffice to say, it's on a lot. Often, if there's nothing else going on, I'll just put it on and let it play in the background while I cook, or clean, or do homework. It's on right now. If you're reading this and for some reason, you've never seen the film, stop reading, go and watch it, and then come back.

Aside from the fact that Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses of all time, I just love the story. It's all just really beautiful, incredibly touching, and unbearably sad. I can never get through the whole film without crying because there are just so many beautiful, and heartbreaking moments. I love the romantic notion of caring about someone as much as Jack and Rose care about each other. I love the kind of people that they are. I admire their courage.



Quite possibly my favorite moment in the entire film comes towards the end, when Jack and Cal have convinced Rose to get into a lifeboat, and the boat is being lowered into the water. Rose is in the boat, she's safe. She'll survive, and she'll be okay. But that's not good enough. Surviving is not good enough. Instead of staying where she knows she'll be safe, she risks everything. She gets up, and she jumps from the lifeboat, from safety, from the closest thing she's got to a guarantee of surviving. She jumps back onto the sinking ship.

And I cry every single time I watch her do it.

I cry because it's romantic. I cry because it's tragic. And I cry because she's right; surviving is not good enough.

Life is not about surviving. Life is about living. And sometimes living means jumping out of your lifeboat, and doing something that is a genuinely stupid idea. I have spent my whole life sitting in that lifeboat looking back at chances I wish I had taken fade away. I have chosen to protect myself, and so I have sat there in that lifeboat, safe, secure, and alone. And you know what? I'll survive if I don't jump. I'll be okay. But you know what else?

Jumping out of that lifeboat might just be the best thing I ever did for myself.

I'm not saying that we should all run around and do things that are dangerous and reckless - that's not what I mean at all. What I mean is that sometimes, we have to give up the guarantee at surviving to have a chance at living. We all have the ability to go through life safely. We can take fewer risks, and we can get through relatively unscathed. We can get in the lifeboat, with the hopes that we'll never be hurt, or we can jump, accepting the fact that we will be hurt, and deciding that maybe there's something else that is more important.

It reminds me of a line from the movie Hitch. I forget the exact words, but it's something along the lines of "That's what people do - they jump, and hope they can fly, because if they can't, they fall the whole way down thinking 'Why in the hell did I jump?'"

I didn't jump because I thought it was a smart idea. I didn't jump because I thought it would keep me safe. I jumped because I'd rather know happiness for a little while, and deal with the pain when it comes. I jumped because from where I'm standing, it's worth it. And I am willing to accept the fact that someday, I might be the one wondering why the hell I jumped.

Can you think of a time when you jumped out of your metaphorical lifeboat? Do you tend to play it safe, or are you more of a risk-taker? Do you think we should play it safe more often, or do you think we should take more chances?
Love and Kisses,