๐๐๐Jumping off a plane!!!
I know, it almost sounds ridiculous. How can this be something that you do willingly? but the thought of it has always excited me for some reason, and it very well sat at the top of my bucket list.
I hoped to do it in Auckland- New Zealand. The landscapes there are supposed to be amazing. As luck would have it though, every time I visited the place it was cold and rainy. No one wants to be jumping off a plane in the rain.
I've never quite liked the rain. It seems to quite literally dampen everything. Yet every once in a while I will embrace it, even entertain the thought of dancing in it. ' Healing rain', as they would call it, washes over you and seems to carry with it the weight on your shoulders . At the very least, I appreciate the smell of it, and the spirit of undeniable freshness and renewal that it brings.
Another one of my trips to Auckland was due. I wasn't too expectant, but I prepared all the same. Carried the cash I'd need, my hoodie and some trainers just in case the sun decided to shine. Life is all about time and chance after all, plus... PREPARATION. When the bride groom comes, you better have those lamps full of oil on the ready.
I was hopeful that at least someone else in the group I was travelling with would join me in my adventure. That someone else would appreciate the thrill of floating on air at 13,000 ft., but again, my convincing powers seem to be at an all time low this days, the few people I spoke to seemed disinterested, which meant if I was to do it, I would have to do it alone.
That's another thing I'm not quite fond of, that is, doing things alone. Why then are there billions of people on the earth??? I have always found security in numbers . But sometimes you'll find the numbers just don't add up , sorry Big Shaq, 2+2 isn't always 4....๐
So I booked myself for the trip the next day and waited.
I was awake bright and early, way before my alarm clock went off. I needed to have a think whether or not I was pushing things a little too far this time. I had been hang-gliding a few months before in Rio, and that had also been quite an exciting and thrilling experience, probably number 2 in my bucket list order, but somehow it missed the mark for me in some ways, so sky diving was supposed to bring 'redemption'.
I am that child you don't over hype because my imagination runs crazy silly , and so it becomes that much harder to impress once those expectations are built, better to let me create my own sand castles in the air, they usually disappoint less. You tend to appreciate things a bit more when you have an open mind.
I looked outside and the sun was slowly reflecting its beautiful rays against the white washed walls of the church across my room.
I said my prayers, in the event this was actually a bad move and I didn't quite know it. They would be the first of many that day. You see, for the past 2 weeks there has been a consistent message everywhere I turned that every day is a gift to do something meaningful, to realise that life is short and that you won't always have forever to do what you could- now. It was almost becoming scary how many times that message was being reinforced that I thought perhaps this was me paradoxically learning to number my days by cutting them short in an act of foolish spontaneity.
I looked outside again, and it was raining.
I almost sighed with relief, today wouldn't be the day after all.
Yet part of me hoped that somehow the small drizzle would stop and things would go as planned. The anxiety was well in it's place by now and I didn't want to have to carry it over with me another several months down the line.
8:20 am, the phone didn't ring. This was generally the time they would call to say the jump was cancelled due to harsh weather conditions. Sometimes 'no phone call' is a good thing, it was all systems go.
I was scared and excited and optimistic all at the same time. Met my driver Jamie outside at 9. Jamie had done round about 300 sky jumps already , he looked a few days past the age of 25, probably even younger, skinny, but full of positive energy. He admitted that he actually hated roller coasters and had a fear of heights, but loved every second of sky diving. He said every jump offered a different experience.' You will love it!', he exclaimed.
We picked up 2 other people on the way to the jumping place, Melissa, a Filipino girl and a German guy whose name I couldn't even pronounce right let alone remember. What I do remember is that he had been touring different places in Europe and later New Zealand for the last 3 weeks and this was the last of his adventures before he returned home later that evening.
We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before we all sank in to deep thought, each of us looking outside our windows, dealing with the voices inside of our heads. Confronting fear, yet trying to maintain composure and do the best 'self speak' possible to reassure ourselves that this was going to be an unforgettable experience, for all the right reasons.
They were right to say the landscapes in Auckland are beautiful, even the grass on the farms looked like well manicured lawns with cows and horses and sheep, the kind that would fetch premium rates for wedding grounds back home ( you know our business wheels are always turning looking for opportunities) lol.The trees were radiant in their grandeur of green. Their soil though brown compared to our brick red, was undoubtedly rich. Everywhere we turned looked naturally beautiful, ' no make up' ๐ .
I said a couple of other prayers during the ride, thanked God for all the charm that was on display, expressed my gratitude for life and health and experiences that were once just in my head but were now a reality. I prayed for peace in my heart to celebrate whatever the out come of the day would be- good or bad, and prayed that if I was to be ' coming home' to HIM that I would have a mansion and not a hut to my name. I suppose that later part was more dependent on how I lived rather than a prayer I made at the last moment. Still, I felt better for it, and hoped that at the very least I would not immerge as a burning stick just snatched from the fire.
I wondered whether the jump was an act of ' toying with death,' on the other hand I remembered, 'living is risking dying,' you cannot swim for new horizons until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore'- William Faulkner, and so away from the shore I swam!
I met EXE the guy I would jump with, and no, it's not pronounced like the flour we use to make chapatti with. His is pronounced X.E or EGZY if you like. Speaking of chapatti, Melissa's jumping buddy explained how there is only 1 in 100,000 chance of someone vomiting during the process of sky diving, and lucky him, he had found that 1 on one of the occasions.
They did a check on our equipment , took some photos and we were off on the plane.
For those of you considering doing the jump, at least at that place, there was a limit of 100kgs for body weight, so keep it trim guys!
We were up in the air in no time. The view was nice, but I will admit it could have been better.
For anyone hoping to do this, I would wait for a bit more of a sunnier day, I think the colours would come through a bit more from that height. That said, we got everything we bargained for and then some.
There was extreme silence as we soared to the clouds, yet the tension wasn't all together present. In fact it seemed pretty hard to gauge what mood everyone was in.
Looking back at my video I had the most ' sheepish grin' I think to mask any thing else I was feeling or not feeling plus, EXE had told me to make sure I kept smiling, otherwise the pics would look horrendous.
So SMILE I did, and yet the pics still look horrendous!!!
The drop from the plane was the most exhilarating part of it all. The point at which you realise you are off yet your heart is still up there , and all you can do is stare at the skies and ask what are you thinking??- best 2 seconds of your life.
Almost as instantly you are hit by this sudden rush of air- here , there, everywhere...and it doesn't seem to like you ! You struggle to look like you are enjoying it though, the camera is rolling, and you paid a handsome amount for this 'experience' you will enjoy it by all means! If its the last thing you do. You will Enjoy It!
Then EXE taps on my shoulder, means I'm free to let go of the reigns I have been hanging on to for the last so many seconds for dear life. I am having none of it though, this air doesn't like me, I'll be damned if I let myself go on it. He tugs for the 2nd time, I have to oblige , maybe if I embrace the fall the 'fall will embrace me'...
It's a lie.
My stomach is churning and my right ear is painfully ringing all sorts of sounds as I try to pop it back to normalcy like they showed on the video we watched shortly before going on this escapade. It works, scarcely, and all of a sudden things are a little bit better. You have now levelled off which means the parachute didn't fail to deploy. To be honest so many things were happening at the time I wasn't conscious that I should now be a little bit more at ease.
We now seem to be gliding, and we are no longer among the clouds, the earth is clearly visible with a river meandering below.
Exe did a couple of spins for fun, which were exciting for a few seconds , but only made my stomach churn all the more.
Tried to soak it all in and see as far as I could.
Slowly, yet faster than I preferred, our decent continued till it was time to hit the ground. I was semi nervous at this point, I landed on my knees when hang gliding , and flat on my behind when plunging from a waterfall, I didn't want to have survived a jump only to break my leg at the landing.
I demonstrated my landing position just so EXE could be sure.
Thankfully, I landed safe and sound, in what seemed to be no time at all.
Bucket list item no 1. now ticked out. Terror overcome...
and like the alchemist with his fear of obtaining his 'ultimate' there is an almost bittersweet sensation of 'now what'???
But then that's human nature, in no time at all there will be something to replace it. Something to endeavour to. It's how we grow. We never reach our ultimate until we die and meet our maker. If you are still here, it's cause there is something you are meant to be doing.
Whatever it is your hoping to get to do, do it while you can. Embrace the whole experience of it. To be honest, the events leading up to the sky dive were almost more glamorous than the actual jump itself and that's okay. I've learnt to embrace the journey leading up to ...'whatever it is that is'. Be your own cheer leader if you have to, do it alone if no one else seems to get why its fun!.....smile as you take the plunge, even if your scared of how you will land. One life to live. Live it up!
''Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won't suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when that person looks back- she will hear her heart saying, 'what have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days?
what have you done with the talents God bestowed on you? You buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of losing those talents. So this is your heritage; the certainty that you wasted your life.
- Paulo Coelho.
Far be it from you.
GO ON , DO what's in your heart to do , JUMP OFF and
the calm before the storm
heart in my mouth!!
45 seconds free falling
......JUST DO IT>
