Everybody Skydives

I spoke with a friend of mine.

The conversation sent me into one of my rolling tangents of thought.

I believe everyone is scared their first time skydiving. The whole way up they sit, fidgeting, squirming, hearts pounding, and they keep thinking about how they don’t want to do it, how they wish they were still on the ground, stayed home.

As the moment gets closer their agitation increases. They begin to breath a little quicker, even sweat a little. What the heck am I doing?

Finally they have to get up. They’re lead to the door. Their mind races. Oh G-d oh G-d here it comes, this is it Oh no it’s too soon, five more minutes!

The door opens and the rush is even more terrifying and jolting than they imagined. The whole world bursts into view. They’re gripped and squeezed by the clutches of dread. The wind blasts into their face and eyes. It rushes up their nose making it even harder to breath within the vice of trepidation that has seized them. The noise is deafening. The whole cabin is overwhelmed with the whir of the engines and violent air. The entire world has been turned into turmoil and all they can think of doing is shrinking back into the safety of the cabin. Their chest beats and screams, ‘Turn back! Turn back!’ It’s just too overwhelming.

Doesn’t it make a lot of sense to do just that? To surrender to the false conviction that this really isn’t what they want to do? It’s not hard to just retreat, to say, “Sorry coach. I can’t.” and in turn the instructor will give him an understanding pat on the shoulder and watch in pity as he sits back down, arms folded, huddled over in shame, and watched as everyone else departs. The plane will land. He will get off and slowly walk over to his light-blue Sedan and drive home trying to persuade himself of some artificial satisfaction. He will get home, heat up a plate of left-overs, sit, and think; would he have enjoyed it? Would he have not? Who knows.

But none of that happens.

Instead something crazy does.

Even though he thinks he wants to turn back

Despite the fear

The uncertainty

The regret

Of something he’s never tried before

Just for a second

He turns off his mind

He barely realizes it when it happens, but despite the fear he reminds himself for just a split second of what he’ll feel after the whole ordeal. And with that thought and for that second, he subdues all the emotion and false desire to turn back;

He jumps!

WhEEEEEOOOOO

Pfffffffffffffffffffffff

He turns around and there’s the plane! Leaving him! It already shrinks into the distance as it soars away and he falls downward. The wind rips past him and he looks down at the whole entire world coming up to greet him.

No matter how hard he tries, no power on earth could prevent the massive grin that appears on his face. Haha he loves it! He’s never felt so free! So alive! He can twist and turn with the whole of the heavens as his domain! And the view! Spectacular! All his worries were left on the Earth. Nothing could touch him up here! He falls and falls. So much room. He has never had so much room. No walls. No trees. Only the clouds feebly attempt to hinder his freedom. That and the massive earth threatening to destroy him. He must pull the cord.

Suddenly the experience takes a radical turn. Instantly the rush and excitement is replaced by the calm and beauty of floating down to the ground. He takes a moment to really take in the view, the cool air in his face, the warm pure sun above, and the sounds of all society below him. He can hear dogs barking and construction in the distance. He can see tiny toy cars zooming around, tiny toy houses, and tiny plastic trees all around below. Little toy people go about their business, none of which could ever effect him up here.

His smile evolves into a hearty chuckle, one that continues until he finally touches down in a storm of happy laughter and concludes with a passionate “WHOOHOOO!” He’ll never forget it.

In each scenario, he did what he thought he wanted to do, except in the latter he did what he knew he wanted to do. Because he thought of the experience he might have, the memories he might have, and not about the fear of that initial jump.

How often do people draw back in fear of the pressure of that first jump? Of new things, new experiences, and new challenges? When the door of opportunity opens in life it’s sometimes terrifying, but does that mean we convince ourselves that we really don’t want to take it? Sometimes you have to shut off your emotions and just ask yourself:

Five years from now

How will I look back at this moment?