Launch Lessons

I was about 16 the first summer I worked at camp.  That might read like an ordinary sentence,  but those are the words that changed the course of my life and personality.  The first 15 years of my life were a pretty hectic rollercoaster that really robbed me of a childhood.  This isn't a sob story about my life,  it's just that I flipped a switch at 8 years old that took me from "little kid"  to "adult" overnight.  The types of things that I would live through would create a cynical, insecure, therefore arrogant individual.  So,  put a "kidult" like that in a group of regular teenagers and one crazed camp director for 7 weeks, and something is going to explode.

I remember it like yesterday.  We left one Saturady for the annual pontoon boat trip on Lake Cumberland.  Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the water,  but that was so childish....I mean, swimming in a lake?  Isn't swimming only for filtered pools?  To make matters worse, we came upon an abandoned railroad tunnel that everyone climbed to jump off into the water.  I wasn't about to do that,  until I watched Stephen dunk Isaac from my view on the boat.  When that kid's head surfaced,  he raced for the boat, face flushed as he bawled his eyes out.  In that moment I had a decision to make.  Do I look back on today,  10 years from now having written "A Diary of a Wimpy Kid" like Isaac,  or do I launch myself from that railroad tunnel, and leave a hero.  

That decision shaped my summer, and opened my eyes to a whole new world.  Here are some of the things that jump taught me.

1.  A launch always involves a loss.

You can talk about doing something all day long and imagine what victory would be like, or you can actually DO SOMETHING.  Staying inside your box allows you to maintain the pride that exists as a covering for your insecurities.  The box allows you to maintain control of your immediate surroundings. A flop in that water would have been a bit embarassing, but a failure to launch would have lost me the respect of those who had tried.  When you launch,  your confidence grows and chisels away at your insecurities.  Launching will cause your fear to disappear.  Launching means losing the "ignorance is bliss" mindset as you become educated in the structure of a win.  Yes, you are going to lose some things when you launch, but it will be worth all that you gain. 

2.  A launch will land you with leaders.

Sometimes I picture what my summer would have been like had I chose to stay in the boat.  I would have been grouped and labeled in the wimpy bracket.  It's hard to lose a label.  But I conquered me fear of...well...life, and launched from that bridge.  Choosing to "do something" over simply talking about it moved me up in the world.  Even if I had flopped,  at least people knew I had the courage to try.

3. Without a launch, there is no legacy.

"Hey you remember the time we...."  The people I enjoy hanging out with the most are those who love to "do."  We all know the "sit and do nothing" people.  Sure, they can talk a big talk,  but they have no experience to back it up.  Launching is fun, and every launch leaves a legacy.  Truth,  not every launch is a success,  but you learned how not to launch next time.  God never allows success or failure without someone else in mind.  Use your legacy to invest in a fellow launcher.  

It's your choice,  launch or lose.  Go DO something!