Skydiving

Yesterday my boss Rod, a work colleague Medha, and myself drove to Baldwin, Ontario (Near Lake Simcoe) to go Skydiving. My boss Rod has done several solo jumps, but it was Medha and my first.

Those of you who know me, know that I don't just do things without having a 'lesson' or 'learning' resonate within me. I wish sometimes that I wasn't so introspective and 'thoughtful' about myself and my life (ok, actually I don't) but alas, it is who I am.

The week preceding the jump, I was feeling scared and apprehensive. I have two kids, and like my life, why am I going to risk it by jumping out of a perfectly good airplane??? The reasons primarily are two fold.

The first being, it is the complete antithesis of anything I would normally do. I like my comfort zone, but know that there is the greatest of learning in being 'uncomfortable'. If there is anything in my life that makes me feel scared, or something that I don't think I can do, I can say to myself "Darran, you jumped out of an airplane...there is NOTHING you can't do!"

The second, is knowing that anything in life is a choice, a decision. There was a moment that I was sitting with my legs out of the plane and I had a choice, jump or not jump. I just made the decision to 'jump', and that was that. I faced my fear, and worked through it.

I will admit to making some 'peace' with God in the days, moments, before the jump. I didn't think I was going to plummet to my death, but there is an element of possibility that I was present to, and it made me do some thinking. (me thinking? there's a new one).

It's funny how we incorporate 'risks' into our daily lives, and yet don't even really think about them anymore. I am not certain of the exact statistics, but from what I hear, there is a much higher risk involved in driving your car for a period of time, than Skydiving. And yet, driving our cars everyday is a risk that has been so seamlessly interwoven into our daily routines, we aren't even cognizant of it any longer.

The Jump itself involves a day of training. The start of which is the president of the parachute school giving you the 'speech' to try and talk you out of the jump. This is followed by the Jump Master giving you instruction on what 'should' happen during the jump, and what to do if something goes wrong, or there is a malfunction with your parachute. There were a couple of times during the day that Medha and I looked at each other and thought, "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING???".

Regardless, we worked through the fear, and headed up in the airplane. It's funny, I was very conscious of what I was feeling as the jump became imminent. I was surprised to feel absolutely 'nothing'. I was not nauseous, not shaky, I felt nothing. I don't know whether I had disengaged my thoughts from my body, but it was almost like I was on auto pilot.

Medha was the first one out, poised at the opening of the plane, the "Jump" command was yelled, she pushed off, and was gone. It was then my turn. I moved to the opening, sat with my legs outside of the plane, and heard the words "Jump". In that moment, I pushed off. I don't think I actually did anything that I was taught in the training, but I guess I can't be rated on form my first time?!?!Thankfully, my parachute deployed as it should, and I enjoyed the ride back down to solid ground, under the direction and guidance of the ground instructor.

My landing was great, and once I had solid ground beneath me, instantly felt nauseous and light headed. I think I re-engaged my body, and actually 'felt' what I had disconnected from pre-jump.

All three of us, completed our jumps safely and re-united with handshakes, and hugs. It was a great moment. One that I will never forget.

I have learned in this life, that you can never say 'never', but I am pretty sure I will not need to go Skydiving again. Medha said she wants to go again, and Rod is working towards some certifications. For me, I can cross Skydiving off the list.

Thanks to Kevin Bate our Jump Master, to the Parachute School of Toronto, Rod for being the catalyst in my doing this, and Medha for having the guts to do it with me.

I will never forget it, what a ride!!!!