Jump In

 

Have you seen a short way through your path and then thought it was time to jump into what comes next? 

 

This is what I’ve seen a few times over the years. 

 

It looked like this one time when I thought I knew where I was going when life changed in a blink of the eye.

I became ready to jump in to start learning.

I became ready to jump in to start learning new ways of communication. 

Specifically, for me it was to learn about assistive technology to help with his goals for communication. 

 

This is when I began attending a conference where I sat next to some of the best in a new realm. 

 

Imagine looking for a way to learn all about a new subject only to find that I was going to need to pull on some hip waders to go deeper than I’d gone before. 

 

It was also during this conference when I was taught to listen and think differently.

 

Taking time to learn alongside others who were thinking about someone who wanted to say more about and go for it. 

The jump in this time was not only fabulous but set me up.

The jump in this time was not only fabulous but set me up for what was coming for the next few decades of living well. 

 

This was the beginning of my time to imagine of what could come next with this first jump into what I called the trench.

 

The trench looked like this at the time. 

 

A long way to narrow what helped me focus on a possible next step. 

 

Sure, that could be one way to look at things.

 

Do you see that there is another way that can be taken here? 

 

A side road that can be taken, if chosen. 

That’s the way it can go when you jump in.

That’s the way it can go with both communication and a trench when you jump in. 

 

I could decide to jump out, alongside or around the first road taken to get into the next space with our son. 

 

He was actually the one who chose what direction to go and when to jump in or out. 

It was his tenacity that told us what to add next.

 

Here’s what I decided to do. 

 

I not only put on the hip waders after going to that first conference, I knew it was time to jump into the deep end of the trench.

 

Continuing to learn with others around me was the key. 

 

The decision to return to the conference to understand what could be done added years of communication support. 

This became the augmentative and alternative communication that Dallin thrived with for his lifetime. 

 

There is another part that I found to be true. 

Jumping in has also become a way of life.

Jumping in has also become a way of going from one part of life to another. 

 

At times things may go from the way we were to how they are now. 

 

Think for a moment how this could be for you. 

 

I wonder if there has been a moment or two when you were ready to jump in and look at a new space. 

Going into a new or different way where you needed to add or change direction while jumping into what can come for your needs. 

 

Here’s what I know now. 

 

We can choose when to jump into a new space, most of the time. 

 

Even when the short path through life looks like it will be quick and easy, we may need to go a different way. 

 

Finding others who learn with us can make it all come together. 

 

Then there is this. 

Do what you are led to do with those near you, my friends. 

 

Perhaps that is what we can do one day at a time.