My Skydiving Experience

Soooooooooo I went Sky Diving!

(video clip below)

When I was 25yrs old, a friend  reached out to me about going sky diving with her. Looking back I don't remember the reasons why I turned her down but am sure there was a combination of fear and lack of finances attached to that reason.

Fast forward to 2019 and another friend (actually 2 of them!) express interests in sky diving and I decide to take the plunge, literary.

The days leading up to the day, especially after we had submitted our paid reservations ,were nerve racking. My brain kept telling me how much this was a bad and irresponsible idea but my adventurous heart was excited about it.

We choose Skydive Pepperell, and I am so glad we did that. From the moment we got to the site, everything was very relaxing. It was a perfect day, the staff was very profession, they even had free food and drinks for clients. There was an area to lounge and watch others get into the plane, fly off  and then watch them in the parachutes on their way down. Being able to see that made me even more excited and impatient for my turn.

As the minutes ticked on, I became overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. It became a battle of mind over matter. And am so thankful to my friends because we were able to encourage each other, that we all came here to jump and we are not leaving anyone behind, we are all jumping!

When we boarded the plane, I was the first to get on board which meant I was the last to jump. I am not sure which is better, to be the first to jump or to sit there and watch others jump in front of you while your anxiety escalates to 1000%. My coach IAIN was such a lovely gentleman. 

I am not sure if the business intentionally matched our personalities to our coaches because I didn't want a boot camp type drill sergeant but my friend did and that was what he got. His coach and him where screaming all the time and acting like animals☻ while my coach and I were just having a quiet conversation to the side which is what I preferred.

Right before and after I jumped, I was oscillating between praying Psalms 91 and also screaming out a few unholy words which got my instructor laughing because he didn't expect that from me per our previous conversations.
My favorite part of the jump was free falling through the clouds. I have no words to explain the feeling. Once you convince your brain that the deed is done, a kind of peace and calm just overwhelms you. I felt such peace, that I cannot explain.

Once the parachute went up, we glided in the air for a while on our way down. It was such a beautiful experience to see the city from the sky up above. And once we all landed, my friends and I were so psyched and pumped up we were ready to do it ALL OVER AGAIN!

My Takeaways from skydiving

1. It helped me to become fearless: After this experience, I will face some tough moments in my life and I approached them with a crazy level of boldness and confidence that was birthed out of my skydiving experience.

2. "Most battles are won or lost in the mind"

"Whether you think you can do it or you cannot do it, You are probably right". I learned that I need to master the art of bending my mind to MY WILL. It's a work in progress but now , after skydiving, I know that it's not an unattainable concept. I learned that I can master it. I just need to keep working at it.

3. What is the heart of your tribe? Are you surrendered by people who will encourage and motivate you or are you surrounded by people who have a defeatist mentality? One of the groups that flew off, one person came back with the plane while the rest of the group jumped. I never want to be that person. I never want fear to get the best of me. And better yet, I want to be surrounded by a tribe that will drag me by the neck if it comes to that, kicking and screaming to the finish line.

When it's all said and done, 

do I recommend skydiving?

YES!!!! and if you know me in real life you better invite me to join you!