I Took the Plunge

"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down." ~ Anne Dillard

I went skydiving today. It's something I've wanted to do for a pretty long time, and just never actually went through the process of researching, saving the money, and doing it. But I started talking about it seriously once I decided to go to Thailand, and for my birthday my mom's gift was the money for it and a bunch of research on places in the area, and that was the push I needed.

It was an indescribable experience. It surprised me that, for the most part, I wasn't even very nervous (except for the moment the door on the plane opened). I wasn't thinking about the dangers or the things that could go wrong, I just knew it was something I had wanted to do and I was finally doing it.

As I was talking to other people about how they felt leading up to their jump, during it, or after, I realized that the way I was feeling is the way that I feel about most of the chances I take in life. It struck me as funny that I have the same reaction to a physical risk as I do to an emotional one, and reinforced my view of myself as someone who is determined to go after what I desire.

In the end, my first parachute deployed incorrectly, so after the first free fall, we went into another before the reserve was pulled as we soared through a cloud. My instructor told me later that it had not happened to him on a tandem jump in about 7 years. Even now, I would still do it again given the opportunity, and have another thing to check off on my "Bucket List."