A leap of faith!

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Skydiving!!! Can't wait to give it a shot.

I've constantly been an adrenaline junky, in my early years, I often did some rappelling trips (around 100 feet high) with some additional flare here and there (Australian and Spider). There's just something about heights that elevates my interest to a different level. As I started to list out my personal "Bucket List". Sky diving and Scuba diving had always been on my top 10 things to do. More often, I lean towards too "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger". My wife isn't so receptive of that concept late these days.

When we were at Mexico, an opportunity presented itself to do some Sky Diving. Unfortunately, timing didn't work out and things didn't materialize as I expect. So when I stopped over Los Angeles to visit some relatives. I knew this was another opportunity to push through with it or fold. It was either "I do it now" or "I won't do it at all". I convinced my elder brother and cousin to take a leap of faith (literally) with me. As it turns out, the experience was more rich than I expected; performing crazy acts with people you know adds more value. As we viewed some videos and signed waivers, I can't seem to erase the smile on my face as I've been longing for this event. The training and drills seemed so simple but then again, your hope is to conduct yourself appropriately when the time comes (not an easy feat).

As we boarded the plane and slowly ascended to our jump off elevation (12,000 ft). I was stupid enough to volunteer in being the first jumper out of the group. Part of the protocol was to kneel near the ledge, put both arms on your chest and look up. Again, sounds simple but with the additional thought of becoming a human pancake if all else fails didn't help; all my nerves were just on high alert. Your mind constantly tells you be sharp. As I counted things down; the anticipation in me kept building until we finally disembarked the plane. There's nothing like a near death experience to jump start your basic survival skills.

I was pretty sure my subconscious was all fired up as it consumes every instance of what I undertook: jumping out of a plane, THIS ISN'T NORMAL (subconscious speaking). Falling upside down and while the plane pass by, THIS IS TOTAL NUTS (my subconscious again doubting my actions). Free falling for 45 seconds@125Kph while the shear wind stretches' every tissue of your face, THIS IS INSANE (subconscious - I give up, no point in reasoning with you anymore). At that moment, every cell of my body was screaming for a reality check. It was only after the chute opened that I was relieved and felt immense joy that I've achieved such an endeavour.

After everything that happened I asked myself a simple question. Will you do this again? Ahhhhhhh, heck YEAH!

SKY DIVING - Done and over with....

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