I jumped, attempting to reach the third bar, my finger just brushing the bar. And then I fell.

I asked my mom if I could play on the play ground for “just a couple of minutes” like how I always did. This could have beent the worst decision of my life.

The one day after my soccer practice I finally convinced my mom to let me play on the play ground for a few minutes. The answer would usually be no, but I was persistent. I would ask every time. Occasionally I would get a yes, but time flew by.

Well this was one of those times when I got a yes. I ran to the playground and joined my brother, who was already there and had been playing during my entire practice.

While he was busy climbing up the top of a slide, I occupied myself with the monkey bars. I climbed across the first set with ease. I continued hanging there for another good thirty seconds. And then I hopped off and went to the next set.

This next set of monkey bars was special. Instead of being parallel with the ground, they had a thirty degree upward slant to them. I had always been working up the courage to jump to the third bar. Today would be the day that I jumped to this bar.

I stared the bar down. I counted up to three in my head but my legs wouldn’t budge. Finally I asked myself what could happen. And I jumped.

Well, a lot of things could have happened. The possibilities were infinite. I could have jumped harder and caught the bar. I could have just done a chicken jump and stepped to the ground. An earthquake could have happened sending shockwaves up everybody’s spines except mine. But instead my fingers just brushed the bar. And then I fell.

The lessons that I learned were that breaking your fall with your arm is a bad idea at times. Also there are points in your life when you should be cautious when reaching, or jumping for this matter, for goals.