Skydivers – Most people say we are crazy. Some say we have a death wish. Psychologists say that people with a penchant for taking great risks are a necessary part of the continuation of our species.
We are people from all walks of life. Students, workers, engineers, doctors, nurses, whatever. What we have in common is infinity for a high-risk sport, skydiving. Some also participate in other sports such as diving, kayaking, rock climbing, skiing. There is a feeling of camaraderie between us. A sense that we understand a greater truth that most people overlook.
Mentally it’s an incredibly refreshing break from “society.” Skydiving is a super stress reliever. When you skydive, you focus on that skydiving and nothing else. This keeps all of life’s distractions away. There is no room here for lost thoughts or worries. Intense concentration and adrenaline pump leave you feeling mentally and physically clean.
And yes, adrenaline is definitely part of it. Your body responds to the rush of adrenaline that hits you, bringing with it a sense of excitement and a surge of energy. Our human bodies are made to produce adrenaline as a survival mechanism and it is increasingly seen as a necessary part of the human experience and general health. Something any skydiver could have told you a long time ago.
Going out the door of a flying plane has other benefits as well. It makes you mentally strong. It takes a lot of mind control to go against what you’ve been taught about danger since you were a child, to control your thoughts, and to realize that yes, it’s okay to walk out that door. You acquire a greater awareness of everything around you. He develops a self-confidence and a quick response as the events around him take place. The sense of accomplishment is incredible. Knowing that you knew your fear, took control, and struggled to take that step flows into other parts of your life.
When I did my first parachute jump, it was a group of us from work. Organize the outing. Everyone had a lot of fun, but I was the only person who did more than one jump. Later, speaking to one of the guys in the group, he said to me: I know that whatever I’m facing in life, I can remember I got on that plane and did a skydive. If I can muster the courage to do that, I can do anything. It was great.
Okay, enough of the psycho talk. What is the feeling? When you walk out the door of a flying plane, you are in free fall until the parachute is deployed. Most skydives are done from around 10,000 feet. at 14,000 feet. providing the skydiver between 30 and 70 seconds of free fall time. Stick your arm out the window of a car going 60 mph, and then imagine your whole body going twice as fast; then you start to get a feel for what skydiving feels like.
No one I have ever spoken to has ever been able to put into words the feeling of skydiving. Even asking first timers, is there a way to describe what you just did? It only elicits a wide-eyed smile, no way.
Free fall is a great feeling of freedom. You are flying through the air, able to move your body in 3D. It can fly forward, backward, move sideways, accelerate the rate at which it falls, and slow the rate at which it falls. Yes, you are falling continuously. But during that time you are definitely blowing up your body. You can do twists and turns. You can stand on your feet or stand on your head. There is absolutely no limit to the direction in which you can move your body.
And let there be no doubt: there is no plane around that can offer you the same view. What a breathtaking sight to see 360 degrees around you – the sky, the horizon, the incredible beauty of the world, right there for you to see unobstructed. Feeling part of that heaven.
The parachute flies like a glider; responding to the pilot’s input and cutting you through the sky. It can fly slowly and smoothly or fast and wild. But either way, with the correct input from the pilot, it would get him safely and smoothly to land on the ground.
Why do we skydive? Who will understand beauty, freedom, haste if not someone who has been there? In truth, heaven is our playground.