Alright. Fa real though. When’s it gonna be my turn? I’ve been spinning and turning and waiting and waiting. When’s it gonna be my turn to jump rope? Everyone around me is diving in. They’re all doing it and doing it. I’m seeing folks coupling up. I watching people getting engaged. I hear of people getting promotions and raises and taking trips and celebrating life. So what’s up with me? When’s it gonna be my turn?
My arms are tired from turning these heavy ropes. I’ve been turning rope for a long time now. I’d been on the sidelines for a while, watching folks jump into the middle of life, going and doing and living. Not surviving . . . living. Ever so slowly, like a friggin turtle stuck in quicksand, I made my way from the sidelines, and now I’m positioned just at the cusp of a breakthrough . . . I think. My turtle-like crawl took many, many years and now I’m here. Turning rope. Stuck. And I’m watching highly skilled, risk-taking, go get em jumpers, jump higher and farther and faster than me. And I don’t get it. I’m highly skilled. I’m go get em. I jump high too. When’s it gonna be my turn to jump rope?
I’m not double-handed anymore. I turn rope with the best of them now. I practiced and practiced until I got good. Real good. I paid my dues. I’ve come far. It just happened at break lightening-less speed. If someone would just recognize my talents. My work ethic. My skills. I’m sure I’d be the jumper in the middle of the jumping field too. I’d be tripping and stumbling over other jumpers’ feet, but at least I’d be jumping right alongside them.
I see them. I see how they watch the rope, waiting until just the right moment, when the rope is up, and the opportunity to strike presents itself. Then in they go. No hesitation. No concentration. They just go for it. They jump in the middle of the double ropes, ready or not, and go at it . . . while rope turners, like me . . . turn rope.
We rope turners . . . we’re cautious, hence our turtle-like stealth. We observe, research, learn, take classes, ask opinions, think about it a lot, write pros and cons lists, and seek everyone’s advice about when we should drop the ropes and jump . . . right in the middle. Without a net. Just go for it. We long to double dutch our souls away, getting our heart rates up, seeking all the thrills that life has to offer. We long to drop the heavy ropes, rest our arms and go for it. We long to take a risk. Take the plunge and jump.
I guess my turn will come when I take that chance on myself. My turn will come when I get disgusted and tired of being tired, of watching the jumpers jump higher and higher, of not experiencing new things by jumping right in there with the rest of them. My turn will come when I finally watch one rope go up, take that chance and jump right in. No hesitation. No concentration.
