I will never ride the swings again in my life. I can look at them, touch them, and if I am brave enough, I will sit on them. Riding on the swings, however, is completely out of the question. Although this is an unusual phobia, an event occurred during my childhood that completely distorted my mind about this piece of playground equipment, causing me to never ride it again. I might be exaggerating the situation, but trust me, flying fifteen feet into the air and landing on your rear-end will put fears into your heart. Such an experience, however, taught me a valuable life lesson and allowed me to further build myself as an individual.

When I was a little boy, my parents used to tell me to take risks and experiment in life, as long as the risk is not stupid. Such a mindset allowed me to conquer the playground, especially the jungle gym, where I mimic the movements of primates and scale and veer the structure. During the summer, a set of swings were constructed in the playground, and I was intrigued by these new devices. As soon as I got a sense on how these structures functioned, I began performing daredevil-like actions on them, such as standing up on the swings and swinging with no hands, increasing the swing’s speed and height as I got more comfortable performing such stunts. One day, however, I took my stunting life too far, effectively ending any contact I had with the swings and my antics on the playground.

On a Saturday of June 2008, the skies were clear with an occasional cloud formation passing overhead, the air was sizzling and humid, and the swings were empty. I hopped onto the nearest swing, and I began to sway back and forth, thinking about what new stunt I should attempt to perform today. As I picked up momentum, an idea hit me: I should jump off the swings in midair and see how far I can land. Usually, this is the time that any normal human being would question if the action is safe or not, but my philosophy on life centralized around the path towards self-satisfaction through dangerous acts, hence why I proceeded with the stunt. As I readied for the stunt by oscillating back and forth even faster, I remembered my parents’ quote, but by the time I fully comprehended the situation, it was too late. I was launched into the air and soared like a mighty eagle, but what goes up must come down, so I started descending at an alarming rate. I was going to land with my feet, but just before I landed, a moth hit my face and I lost my concentration on the fall, causing my rear-end to hit the ground before my legs. Such a force knocked the air out of my lungs, leaving me gasping for oxygen while I tried to figure out what happened. The impact also left a massive bruise in the area near my tailbone, which restricted my ability to walk. Luckily, my parents saw what had happened, so they quickly rushed to my rescue and fixed me up in a matter of minutes. After that day, I no longer saw the playground as a place of happiness and freedom, but instead as a place of darkness and pain.

While I was reflecting upon the incident while I recovered, my mental state changed as an individual. The quote that my parents always told me before going to the playground became a permanent reminder in my brain about my failure, and I began taking safety into more consideration while performing tasks. I weighed the pros and cons before doing any sort of dangerous act that could negatively affect my well-being. I also developed a sense of identity and purpose in this world, allowing me to take more caution so that my life is not in danger, further supporting my transition from an unstable to a stable state of mind and body.

Although I was a child acrobat on the playground, I had a major accident with the swings, where I bruised my tailbone and got the wind knocked out of me from colliding with the ground too hard on my buttocks. From that point onwards, I refused to ride the swings ever again and limited performing stunts, especially those that could cause serious harm if executed improperly. From this incident, however, I could perceive the world through a new angle, causing me to become a more cautious and attentive individual and to who I am today.