Trust at 125 mph

When you tell people that you are going skydiving – you will get an opinion. The good. The bad. And even the ugly. The best part is the expression on each person’s face when you say you are going skydiving. It is almost comical.  First you see the absolutely stunned expression, then the immediate response. “You’re what?!?” Or, “I have always wanted to do that!” Another common one, “I would never, ever jump out of a plane.” As my husband says, “I would never jump out of a perfectly good plane.” Someone even told me that they always wanted to go skydiving, but their significant other wouldn’t let them because it is an act of ultimate selfishness (in case something goes wrong).

Let me back up a bit. My son just turned 18. For his birthday, he wanted to go skydiving. My mom said, “Yeah, me too. Let’s go.” My niece said, “You’re going skydiving? I want to go too.”

Skydiving is not something I would have ever done, but this was different. I am not in any way a thrill-seeker or adrenaline junky. But I felt absolutely compelled to share in this experience with my 75-year-old mother, my 18-year-old son, and my 26-year-old niece. I mean, someone had to represent the 40-somethings.

I made the reservations. I committed. I was okay with it too, primarily because I chose not to think about it. I remembered Will Smith’s rendition of his skydiving experience on You Tube, and while it was extremely funny, it was also profound. I tend to look for the profound in life.

The day of the skydive was an ordinary day except for the fact that I was going to jump out of a plane. I had all day to try and not think about it since we booked a late afternoon jump. I went to church, came home, made a big breakfast, painted the screened porch, jumped in the shower, hopped in the car, and off we went. Maybe there was a little nervous energy going on. I never get that much accomplished on a Sunday.

Here is where it gets interesting. We arrived at the jump site and experienced several friendly and helpful staff who had this down to a science: the instructions, the paperwork, the training, and the expectations. Talk about clarity. I do have to admit that I was coming unglued during the legal portion of the video when the very nice gentleman explained that, because this is an extreme sport, there is absolutely no legal foothold should anything happen to me. Life insurance would not pay. Huh? I almost backed out at that point. The only thing that kept me going was that there were a whole lot of people who have already done this and had no problems whatsoever.

Getting the harnesses on – that was something. No room for body shyness. We went tandem skydiving, so the person who was going to be attached to me while falling through the sky was in charge of all the clips, belts, and harnesses. Needless to say, I thought it would be nice to get to know each other a little bit, so I defaulted to my question-asking mode. Much easier to gather information than to think about the big picture of what’s going to happen next.

Before I knew it, everything was in place and we were getting in the plane. There were 10 people including the videographer and another solo diver. This is what I remember most. As we were ascending, I could hear laughter. I turned around to see my mom with her face lit up, laughing along with my niece at one of the tandem jumper’s stupid jokes. Next, I looked over to my left and could see my son taking it all in with a smile. I looked forward and the videographer was making motions to me to breathe. High five’s and fist pumps all around. I was in the moment with all of them and it was amazing.

My tandem partner asked, “How are you doing.” I said, “Okay, but tell me why you picked skydiving.” So, for the rest of the plane ride, and to get my mind off things, I inquired about his education, career decisions, motivation, and free time. For those who know me well, this should not be too much of a surprise. Even in a very stressful situation I still want to know about what people love to do. I can’t help it – it’s like breathing to me.

We were almost ready to jump. My partner asked, “Do you still want to do this.” I said, “Absolutely.” It was at this point that the instructors decided that I would go first, followed by the videographer, my son, and then everyone else. What?!? All of the sudden, the harness got tighter. My tandem partner was making final preparations. It was time. 

Before I knew it, I was looking out the door of the plane. 1 - rock forward. 2 - rock backwards. 3 - jump. Terminal velocity 125 mph. Cold, damp air. Intensity beyond anything I have experienced in my life so far. By that I mean the intensity of that much force whipping at my body during the free fall. There was really no time to be scared, or even think twice. I was just doing it.

Parachute released. Whew! Ouch!! I would be lying if I told you that it does not hurt when there is a sudden jolt of the parachute opening. But after that my goggles came off and there was peace and quiet. My partner said, “Do you want to drive?” I said, “Nope, unlike most other times, I am completely comfortable with you driving.” We glided softly the rest of the way to the ground with a very nice landing. All of us were safe and sound.

What did I get out of this experience? Trust at a whole new level. I trusted my tandem partner implicitly. I trusted his expertise. I let go of all expectations and just let my tandem partner be in charge. I thought about this later and realized that letting go of control is generally a problem for me. 

Yet, I jumped out of a plane.

Why can’t I have that kind of trust in day-to-day life? And then I wondered, is this what it is like to really put this kind of trust in God? Trust like this:

1. Secure the harnesses (get tight with God).
2. Jump (act, go, move on whatever it is you are dwelling on).
3. Glide (trust that you are still attached to God, observe the beauty, relish the experience).
4. Land (celebrate, be grateful, get up and get ready for what is next).

It seems simple when you think about it. Yet it can take a lifetime to learn.

Go jump out of a plane sometime – it speeds up the learning process a bit.