2 Gringos, 1 Cliff And A Forgotten Lesson

I was feeling super shitty on Wednesday.

I slept like shit and didn’t get out of bed until 7 AM.

Working for myself has that effect.

Minor mishaps can throw my whole day out of whack

This “creating” process feels like I’m walking on a slack line.

When my habits are in check, I walk with strides of confidence in my steps.

Sometimes I even get cocky and run

But when little things get out of sync, I instantly get knocked off my feet.

Buried in self-doubts and despair, I look at the slack line with great discouragement that I have to start all over again.

It was Wednesday though, so we were going on a hike.

We pretty much have exhausted all our favorite spots since we’ve been back

So this new hike was a welcomed change.

We got there in the middle of the day. A couple groups of tourists were leaving — a good sign.

We crossed a small creek to get to the charco, a deep water hole that snakes itself around odd-shaped rocks.

Once we settled in, I wanted to look for rocks to jump off.

But since I haven’t done any jumps in the last 6 months, this new spot freaks me out a little.

That’s the thing about courage. The more you use it, the more it fills your cup.

But as soon as you stop needing it, the cup shatters faster than you can say sayonara

So I found a baby rock. About 10 feet or so and decided to just do it.

I haven’t seen anyone else do it, so I was pretty nervous

But no one else wanted to do it. So fuck it.

Maybe this content creation thing is making me brave.

Before I finished contemplating my life decisions, some gringo showed up with his family.

He wanted to jump down the same spot but across where I was standing.

Great. He goes first. Then I’ll do it.

But he didn’t go.

Instead, he had his sister swimming around various spots and sinking under to gauge its depth.

“8 feet!” — she’d scream

“Ok! Now go 2 feet to the right. And put your hands above your head”

“That was about 4 seconds!”- she’d scream

“Ok! Now go to the left!”

And they did this for 10 minutes

Puñeta. Ese cabrón no es serio

Meanwhile, his kids were down there crying. Begging him not to do it

After 10 minutes, his wife signaled him not to do it. He got off the rock.

And I jumped in without hesitation.

I guess because what I’d witness was just so humorous. I felt the choice I had to make was clear:

To be a gringa or not to be a gringa?

After that jump, I felt pretty hard.

I just made a jump before the guy with a personal depth finder.

When we walked back to the other side, we saw 3 guys arriving.

2 of them immediately got on one of the bigger rocks and jumped off. Screaming and laughing in ecstasy.

Noted. I can jump from THERE next.

Then they climbed up the cliff above all the rocks. At least 60 feet above. And fucking jumped out from a tiny opening you could hardly see past the shrubs.

What the fuck.

I came over to ask wtf they were thinking

What blew my mind even more than their ridiculous jump was the fact they’re from Nebraska and North Dakota

Middle of no-fucking-where America.

Their natural accent, demeanor and attitude forced me to believe they were natives.

But they moved here a year ago.

They pick up Spanish from talking with people. They talk to each other in Spanish.

I don’t want you to think about two white guys speaking Spanish to each other

I want you to think about two white guys being Spanish. It’s not the words they say.

It’s the way they stretch their vowels with the local slangs.

The way they freely move their body with zero inhibitions.

The way they jerk around and cack at each other’s jokes.

I was mesmerized.

Another group of Puerto Rican teenagers arrived. And they blended right in.

Talking. Laughing. Daring each other to jump off rocks.

It was hard to tell who wasn’t Puerto Rican

I couldn’t stop watching.

The level of joy and happiness they radiated was unmatched.

I really have never seen this before.

I think about the $300 Spanish course I pay monthly and how paralyzed I still am talking with the locals.

Why do I learn Spanish? Is it to connect with locals or show off my skills?

I think about the stress I give myself when my day doesn’t go perfectly

What am I so worried about?

Those are questions for me to contemplate.

Here is your biggest takeaway from today’s email:

When you grew up, society made you believe that preparation matters above all else.

Education system values you based on how well you prepare for tests

Companies value you based on how well you prepare for interviews

This is the key —

The better you prepare, the higher value you are assigned

But this perceived value actually has nothing to do with your personal development.

Because personal growth doesn’t happen on a stage.

And you’re not graded on your performance like a dance monkey.

Personal growth happens inside.

It happens when:

• you write things nobody reads

• you say things nobody hears

• you make things nobody sees

Over and over again.

Because you disconnect from external validations

Because you are training for battles nobody needs to know about.

In writing this newsletter, I have been reminded to stop measuring progress with external metrics.

And to take a step back to remember the why behind each goal I set — to not let process itself become an obstacle.

So I don’t become the guy with a personal depth finder who never makes the jump.

I hope it helps you too

If it did, please go here and give my article fiddy (50) claps.

p/s. You didn’t think I made that 60-foot jump, did you?