My previous post was about the physical experience about skydiving. This post is about what it does for the soul – in particular, what it did for my soul. What I didn’t expect is how it would change me in this subtle but very real way, even changing my perspective about things. It’s not a ‘jump out of your skin’ change – but something changed. It was subtle and yet rejuvenating in this quiet way.
So many would ask, “Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” For me, it wasn’t about being daring or fearless even though it takes a bit of dare and a bit of fearlessness. For me it was about the sensation of freedom and of escape from the mundane – and nothing is more freeing than falling out of an airplane with full abandon. There is nothing like the free falling about 5000 feet while you feel the force of air hit your body at around 200kmh and then there’s the pull of harness as the canopy deploys, pulling you up into the air like pulling a fish out of water with a strong yank of the fishing pole. Then the incredible view as you float down toward the earth below. It was seeing everything from a new perspective, viewing the planet from God’s eye view, or even a bird’s eye view … and suddenly you realise why people love the idea of flying – and I don’t mean like in commercial passenger aircraft kind of flying – this is the greatest sensation of freedom I have ever felt.
The first thing it taught me was that courage is not so much about conquering fear; it’s acting courageous despite the fear, it is acting without thinking too hard about the consequences. How much more profound this courage would be when acting it out when it’s about doing the right thing, instead of overthinking it – which I do … a lot. Sometimes it can be a good thing to just do without ‘thinking it through’ too much. Jumping out of an airplane attached to a skydiving instructor and a parachute pack is not something you want to overthink. I had to choose to not think about what could go wrong. I had to completely block it out and focus on what a mind-blowing experience it’s going to be. Risk-taking can be like this. Sometimes risk taking has to be calculated so you don’t completely ruin yourself – but sometimes, with certain experiences like sky jumping, there is no time to calculate – you just do! You jump and enjoy the ride!
I always thought I had to work up courage to act or that I had to overcome fear to have courage. This isn’t true. Courage is what you do while not thinking about the fear – while not thinking about the ‘what ifs’ – you suppress the fear while not overthinking it, and you just act.
Was the experience exhilarating? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Liberating? Most definitely. But still, none of these words can describe how it cracks your soul open to a side of yourself you never knew existed. This is what happened to me.
As an introvert, I live in my head far too much. I would always weigh my words too much and many opinions never verbally expressed. I’m a private person to a large degree and share things with people that are not what I deem private. I would over analyse things to ad nauseam, thinking about all the possible consequences without end – this isn’t calculating safety, protecting myself, it was madness. Since taking the dive, I find that I live in my head far less than I used to and it’s not something forced or something I have to be conscious of. I notice more and more that I am living more purposely – throwing myself out there a little more. It feels like I am living more largely than before … like I said, the experience cracked my soul open.
There is a saying that “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” quoted by Neale Donald Walsh. This quote is true. Skydiving is one of those things that are completely out of anyone’s comfort zone. Playing it safe in life gives us a sense of being safe and secure, but is it? Playing it safe all the time is a mundane life – it kills a person’s drive to want to do things out of their comfort zone, to live adventurously or even purposely – it can ignite the senses of adventure and creativity – it makes you want to do great things – to make your mark in life.
I’m in my late 50’s and have few regrets in life. There are only two things that I always wanted to do on my Bucket List – one was skydiving, the other is publishing my memoir and … okay, actually three things – maybe even publishing the fiction I started some years ago that still burns in my brain. And, I’m thinking that if I can jump out of a plane, then how hard is it to put myself out there and get my memoir published?? I have put off publishing for many reasons for a long time, but perhaps the time has come to finally bite the bullet.
Life is not about playing it safe, but it also doesn’t mean doing life threatening things all the time – humans don’t have nine lives. But every once in a while, I think that everyone, at least once, should do that one thing that is outside their comfort zone – something that cracks their soul open and makes you come alive inside. Don’t wait until you feel like it because it may never come.
What is that one thing that you would want to do if you weren’t afraid?
“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” ~ Benjamin Mee, ‘We Bought a Zoo’
“Anything that gets your blood racing is probably something worth doing.”
Risé Brette
The Weary Traveller 