it's a bird, it's a plane....

It's me! Jumping out of a plane! Wow, so much fun :)

So, if it isn't obvious, I went skydiving last week...and it was as rad as I remembered!

I was talking to a friend recently about my then upcoming skydiving appointment and he asked what my favorite part was from the first time I jumped 6 years ago. I thought for a moment and said "the instant right before you jump and the release of actually letting go...I like that it suddenly felt like I was hovering/flying and not so much like falling."  After this second jump, I stand by that choice. In fact, as I was teetering my foot out of the plane a little voice inside said, without a shred of fear, just let go. So I let go (not that I really had much of a choice at this point as there was a man attached to my back ready to push me!) and felt the rush of flying, once again, sweep over me.

But I also really liked my friends choice of his favorite skydive moment; "the instant the parachute is pulled and suddenly all of the wind and loud rush of air around you silences to a stillness. You wouldn't expect it to be so instantly quiet." I remembered him saying this during my second dive and it definitely made me appreciate that moment a lot more.

Even if the idea of skydiving is terrifying to you (although I highly encourage anyone interested to 100% give it a shot, it's completely awesome) both of these "favorite moments" can be applied to every day life.

For one thing, I know first hand the importance of just letting go. Freeing yourself from the fears holding you back in life has got to be just about the most amazing feeling ever. I think you'll find it will, more often than not, cause you to fly instead of fall. So have a little faith, muster up your courage (you're stronger than you know) and just let go. Release the ever-so-human need to control, control, control and let yourself take flight on an amazing adventure instead. Trust yourself. Trust your guide. Trust the process.

For another, I think sometimes we're so afraid of stepping outside the chaos--we're so strangely comfortable in it, whether we can admit that or not--that we miss the chance to pull the parachute, say enough is enough, and allow the quiet to surround us. We don't always listen very well when our inner guide tells us the time has come to pull our life saving safety device, which often comes in the form of simply choosing to step outside the chaos. We have the power to trigger this quiet whenever we want. Why wait until we land flat on our faces when the beautiful power of choice is available to us at a moments notice?

And now for a mini plug--If you're ever in the Bay Area and want a bad ass way to spend an afternoon, I highly recommend NorCal Skydiving. Their staff was so kind and fun, making us feel really safe and excited from the get-go. I super appreciate all of their hard work in making the experience truly amazing!

In Gratitude,

Trish