Years ago, I learned to skydive. In 6 years I did 115 jumps, plus the two tandem jumps that got me hooked on it in the first place. I've since retuired from the sport, as with my travel schedule it was hard to go often enough to stay current.
I wrote the piece below originally as a Facebook post for my friends
People often ask why I skydive. I usually reply:"It's really exciting, I love to fly, and it's an excellent exercise in self-discipline and risk management."
But this canned response doesn't really convey why I'vechosen to pursue a hobby that most people think is for crazy adrenaline junkies with some kind of death wish.
For starters, it's not nearly as dangerous as people imagine. Fatalities have been dropping since the 1970's and now average roughly 1 in 100,000 jumps. That's a 10 in a million risk, which is very very low.
And it really is fun. Yesterday I did four so-called'tracking' jumps where I practiced formation flying in free fall with three other people. We had a planned flight path, a formation we planned to hold, and a mark when we would break the formation and fly apart to deploy our chutes.
I'll never be a Blue Angels pilot, but I do get to experience the exhilaration
of flying my body just a few feet from others at 120 mph.
But in addition to the raw excitement that skydivingbrings, I've found it to be an amazing personal development opportunity.
For one, it's quite a confidence builder to know you arecapable of leaving an airplane and getting yourself back to the ground safely.
Some may say that you are risking your life on a bunch of nylon fabric, and that's just crazy. But that bunch of nylon has been designed and tested to perform a specific function, and current parachute designs perform very reliably.
When you understand how your equipment functions and how to respond in an emergency situation, it becomes far more sensible. Perhaps that is why the sport seems to attract technical types.
I've jumped with many who were engineers or worked in software, and even a fellow physicist who was attending a local conference and had come early to get in a few jumps in the beautiful mountain scenery.
Making a choice that cannot be undone forces you to trustthat you have what it takes to succeed. As soon as I leave the airplane, there is absolutely no going back, and no procrastination or indecision allowed. I must act decisively and act right now. Every time I succeed at this, I am reminded that I am capable of much more than I ever realized.
Learning to skydive has also helped me develop a muchbetter approach to taking risks.
For far too long, I was afraid to take risks. I wouldfocus too much on the worst that could happen rather than the potential for success. But life is ultimately all about managing risks to achieve desired outcomes.
Everyone must decide how to manage their own risk/reward profile, but it's so easy to fall into the trap of playing it safe, avoiding things you really want to do believing you can avoid all danger. But this is largely an illusion perpetuated by irrational thinking that causes us to exaggerate the actual risks involved. I've found skydiving to be a great way to practice the mental control required to overcome irrational fears of exaggerated risks. It is a way to remind myself that I can perform and succeed in the face of risk.
It is also a way to set an example for my two boys that life is too short to live it being afraid. Fear prevents you from achieving your true potential. Live life fully and follow your dreams, even if it scares you, because your fears likely cause you to overestimate the risk anyway. Don't listen to others' opinions of what you should or shouldn't do. Believe in yourself, manage the risks smartly, and you will probably prevail and live the life you really want.
I used to assume skydivers were crazy adrenaline junkieswith some kind of death wish, but not any more.
They just have some kind of life wish.