After a fun packed week in Turkey, 3 years ago, I promised my kids that I would treat them to a skydive when we were on holiday this year.
Unfortunately, the drop zone was 250 miles away and the minimum age was 16. This meant that Eddie (12) couldn’t now be a part of the ‘team’. So we didn’t do it!
Last week while we were discussing Cloe going to University, I suddenly realised that life was moving fast and our opportunities to do stuff together will become harder and, probably for the kids, less desirable! Even with our oldest daughter it’s tough to arrange suitable times to meet up, as she has her life to get on with and her children to entertain.
So, I booked Jack and Cloe a tandem skydive at ‘Goskydive’ near Salisbury, but, I’m not sure they were thanking me much when I told them. The thought of jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet added a few beats to their heart rate and, although they were saying positive things, I could tell they were nervous.
I had only given them 2-days to ‘mull things over’ and before you know it we were all in the car and on our way to the airfield. The journey was fairly quiet and, once we got to the drop zone, the reality hit home. Planes taking off, people waiting to to jump next, others booking in, there was excited, nervous energy everywhere. It was fantastic!
They filled in their forms, did the induction, got their jump suits on and their names were called – time to go. Suddenly, I was nervous, as I watched them getting onto the plane.
As you can imagine, they jumped, landed safely and loved the experience. They want to do it again and I am sure their stories will last a few weeks and then recounted now and then for the rest of their lives. A memory forever!
I could use all of the metaphors about going out of the comfort zone, how that relates to doing challenging things in the future, overcoming fear, achieving more in life, and, they are all valid. Having said that, skydiving is not for everyone, but what have you always wanted to do, yet, haven’t quite mustered up the courage to give it a go?
Susan Jeffers’ book “Feel the fear, and do it anyway” is a good read if you are holding yourself back for some reason.
I hope that, having experienced a good dose of fear and still gone through with things, this now encourages my children to give things a go and experience more in life.
We all have something that we have always wanted to try, what is yours?