Have you ever done an activity that absolutely scared the crap out of you?
Well this weekend, I did an activity that scares a lot of people. I went skydiving.
Now the fear behind this activity is completely logical. Why fall out of a perfectly good plane?
I think there is a fear in losing control, the fact that you are not on the ground, where our entire existence starts and ends.
Fear is truly crippling. And I am so glad I didn’t let my fear of falling 14,000 feet while hurdling at the Earth control me. It was absolutely amazing.
Finally getting into that plane after waiting for four hours was a stomach twister. It took 14 minutes to reach jumping altitude, and you can only imagine what goes through everyone’s head when they open that door and people start jumping out. I also cannot explain to you what happened when I was scooted to the door and looked down at the blue abyss.
At 14,000 feet, you free fall for 60 seconds. It starts to feel freeing about 1 second after you are shoved outside of the plane.
This experience has changed my view on life, a lot.
Fear doesn’t stop death, it stops life. It is nothing more than an obstacle that stands in the way of progress. In overcoming our fears, we can move forward, stronger, and wiser within ourselves.
I honestly have always enjoyed doing activities that scare me. It’s exhilarating to learn that you can push yourself past that fear and come out smiling on the other side. It’s the best feeling in the world.
But, I can say that I have let fear hold me back many times in my life.
You won’t regret going into fear. You’ll regret letting fear hold you back from what could have been.
If you fear something, go and do it this week. If you feel fear creep up on you at any point, do what you are afraid of. You will never regret it.
With love, Jaclyn.