I remember when I was 16 years old. A friend of mine went skydiving for his 18th birthday, and he loved it so much he wanted to drag us with him for the next trip. I informed him that he was crazy.
Throwing myself out of a plane, even strapped to the front of someone who knew what they were doing, was a complete hell to the no.
I know skydiving is reasonably safe. I don’t have a problem with heights. I have issues with falling. But… that’s me.
This said, although I will never jump out of an airplane “for fun,” many things I’ve done in my life (even on good ol’ terra firma) would earn me some eyebrows. I used to Rollerblade aggressively, deliberately jumping down flights of concrete stairs and the like. I used to be good at doing 180s and 360s. And we used to skate to the top of a two-mile-long causeway bridge at some point in our evening skates, put our knees together, and fly down at speeds approaching 40 miles an hour, alongside traffic.
It didn’t feel crazy to me at the time, but that’s because I was doing it. I was informed later by people I was “bonkers” for thinking such a thing, but for me, it was just another normal day skating.
Everyone should find a way to stretch a little bit in ways that only seem a little bit “crazy.” If you don’t like heights, speed along the ground on skates or skis. If you don’t like to fall, learn to climb or fly. If you don’t like to go fast, then hike and go slow. When you get comfortable with yourself and your ability, someone might see how you excel and question your madness.
But you’ve already questioned yourself to see what your’e capable of. You’ve learned this from exploring – the world, and yourself.
