Why Skydiving Should Be on Your Bucket List
Confidence, Overcoming Fear, Women Empowerment
On a sunny morning in June, I woke up and decided to go skydiving. Because, why not? It turned out to be one of the most amazing life experiences I’ve ever had.
The experience completely shifted my perspective on life, and these were the three things that I took away from my first skydive (it most certainly will not be my last):
Fear Shouldn’t Direct Your Fate
As I was getting ready to jump, I realized that in any given situation, it’s always been my anticipation of what could go wrong that brings me more fear than the actual situation itself. As my feet were dangling out of the plane, and I was looking at the ground from 10,000 feet in the air, what I was about to do wasn’t as scary as I had made it seem in my head. Once the parachute opened about 45 seconds after the free fall, it felt like the most peaceful 5 minutes. I had a huge smile on my face, and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that level of inner peace in my life. An experience that I would have missed out on had I analyzed the situation. It’s always our perception of a situation that generally makes things worse. Fear should never dictate your life choices.
Become Friends with the Unfamiliar
When the plane took off, I was all alone with people that I didn’t know. The safety of my life was in their hands. When I was at the foot of the door, for a split second I wanted to hold onto something and feel like I was in control, but I told myself to let go. Once I jumped out of the plane and we were free-falling, for the first few seconds. I couldn’t help but frantically find something to hold onto. But again, I told myself to let go, and when I did, the ride was much calmer.
To me, this is the same in any circumstance. The more we resist something, the battle just feels a lot harder and sometimes painful. But if we learn to adapt and flow with the current, the proverbial ride is that much more peaceful and even joyous. Sometimes we truly don’t have control over the moments that we find ourselves in, but we do have control over how we react to the unfamiliar. We can either get comfortable with it or we can hold on extremely tight.
Stay True to Your Choices
I made the decision to go skydiving spontaneously. I tend to make decisions without any proof and that’s scary for a lot of people. This experience confirmed what I’ve already known. Once I decide on something I should stick to my gut. There is no one that knows me better than I do, and no one will ever be able to understand what’s right for me. This belief became ever so clear that beautiful, sunny day that I decided to skydive. It was my decision and one that felt completely right for me.
If you’re contemplating a big decision or doing something out of your comfort zone, my advice is to go for it! The scarier something seems, there’s even more reason to go after it. Skydiving always seemed like a very uncomfortable thing that I never thought I’d follow through with. But I’m glad I did it because it was an adventure that I would have regretted.
