Look Before You Leap

One bright Easter day about four years ago, my family had gone to my grandparents' house to celebrate Easter like we usually do each year.  We talked, ate, and had fun.  Little did we know when we drove up to the house that, by the end of the day, we would be in a hospital emergency room.

It all started when my cousin suggested that we have a water fight.  We had water guns and "water Easter eggs." These were plastic eggs filled with water that would come open when you hit someone.  My cousin Ryan and I were on one team and my cousins Philip and Lance were on another team.  We played outside the house and also on a deck extending from the second floor of my grandparent's house.  For about thirty minutes we played and got a little wet but nobody had been hurt. 

At one point during the game, when I was inside,  my cousin Philip, who was on the deck, said "I've had enough.  Come out here."

"Is this a trick?," I asked.  It seemed a little suspicious.

"No, of course not.  I'm just sick of this game."

"Well, okay."  I hesitated then decided to go out to the deck. 

"Ha!  Got you!" said my other opponent, Lance, who was hiding behind the door with a water egg in his hand. 

"Liar!," I yelled at Philip.  My instant reaction was to jump off the deck onto the grass below.  I had done it many times before and knew that I would be okay.  That way I could get away from Lance and I would not lose the water fight.  The water egg whizzed right past my head as I vaulted over the railing of the deck.  I shouted "Missed me!" without thinking about or looking at what was below me.  The only thing that I was thinking about on the way down was not getting hit with that water egg.  This thoughtlessness was my big mistake.  Since I was not paying attention on the way down, I lost my balance and landed on my left foot in a painful fall. 

"Are you all right?" Lance asked me.

Not knowing how badly I was hurt I responded "Of course I'm all right.  I'm going to get you back."  I tried to get my cousin back but I could barely walk, so I sat down on the sofa and my grandmother put ice on my ankle.  I just sat there and watched television for awhile.  When it was time to leave, and I had to get up, my foot hurt even worse than it did when I landed on it.

We decided to go to the emergency room, where I discovered that I had broken my ankle.  If only I had "looked before I leaped," I would not  have broken my ankle.  Never again will I do anything without focusing on it first, whether it is physical or mental.