Taking Leaps

I watched as the altimeter on my tandem partner’s wrist steadily rose – every foot we ascended raised my pulse and adrenaline proportionately. Today was about to be the culmination of years of anticipation - compressed into one jump. Skydiving had been on my ‘bucket list’ for years – in fact, I had attempted to go multiple times in the past, but each plan had been foiled by the weather, cancellation by friends or other factors out of my control. Today was finally a go. It was a gloriously beautiful January day in central Florida – temp was in the mid 70’s and there was hardly a cloud in the bright blue sky. There would be no interruptions, problems or excuses today – plus, I was delighted to be accompanied by my girlfriend and two other friends who were all jumping for the first time. We also had a group of cheerleading friends and family on the ground below (nervously awaiting our safe landing). Amazingly enough I didn’t have a nervous bone in my body. My tandem instructor Manny had made over 8000 career jumps and through the course of his instruction and preparation with me, he assured me that it was perfectly normal to be nervous before jumping. Well, I guess I pride myself on never being “normal”! I was ready to fly!

The hum of the plane’s engines droned in my ears and changed pitch as the plane leveled off. Manny explained to me that we were dropping a team of jumpers at 11k feet and then climbing to 13,500 feet for our exit. One of the “team jumpers” opened up the transparent garage-door style door on the rear left side of the plane. The entire team slid down to the door – two guys grabbed the bar over the door while interlocking arms with two other team members who locked arms with two more. Within seconds they all exited the plane with the precision of a synchronized swim team. Their departure pretty much left the plane empty with the exception of our crew and cameramen. One of our camera guys shut the exit door and returned to bend down to eye level with me to ask me if I was ready. I said “Oh, yeah!” as my eyes fixated on the sticker on his camera/helmet that read “Party Guy” – I knew we were with the right group of dudes!

The engines roared as the plane powered up to climb another 2k feet for our jump altitude. It had been a very comfortable flight so far - considering I was strapped to a dude while sitting in his lap! Secure in my manhood and the fact that my beautiful girlfriend sat smiling next to me, I decided to "fuhgettaboutit” as my tandem instructor and I inched toward the exit on our butts. Every inch closer to the door brought more excitement and anticipation. The exit door rolled up and my pulse raced. I decided to do the gentlemanly thing and let my girlfriend jump first. I wanted to have a birds-eye view of her exit, plus I wanted to prolong my anticipation. For me, anticipation is the greatest thrill. Our cameramen took their positions as Lea dangled her legs under the plane. In one fluid move, she and her instructor rolled out of the plane. “Wow” I thought as I watched her plummet in freefall. Tom Petty’s classic song “Free Fallin” played in my head as I inched to the edge of the plane.

My instructions from Manny were simple and clear – head back, arched back and legs bent at a 90 as if I were kicking my own butt – the rest was up to Manny – it sounded simple. I tucked my legs under the belly of the plane as I got a clear view of the ground below. I could see from Orlando to the Daytona Beach Oceanfront and the landing spot below looked like a dot that was barely visible. Manny nudged me and said “Ready?” I nodded and let my head stay back as we lunged from the plane. Just like that we were airborne!

The thrill of the moment was indescribable and sensational. I scanned the horizon as the wind buffeted my face as we plummeted at 110mph. I could barely see my girl below and off to the left as she soared through the sky. The fall was both tranquil and invigorating at the same time. All of my life I had dreamt of flying – now the dream was a reality. Every movement of my arms and legs shifted the angle of our descent – and although I was strapped to the instructor in tandem, I felt in control – in spite of the fact that gravity was the predominating factor.

I wanted to make every second of the experience last a lifetime. I knew this would be a moment that I would replay in my mind forever. I think every kid in my generation had once had a dream of flying like Superman. I felt the skin on my face stretch in the wind as I smiled wider in approval. Just when I thought I had reached the climax of the experience, my cameraman appeared out of nowhere as he dropped in front of us. He rolled onto his back and slowed his descent as we caught up to him. He extended his feet in my direction and I grabbed onto his shoes. My tandem instructor momentarily blindfolded me with his hands. Later, I would look at the picture of this moment and realize its awkwardness, but for the moment it was bliss!

The cameraman separated from us and moved away to get some more shots. Just as I thought it must be about time for the chute to open, I felt as if I had been plucked out of the air. In an instant I went from horizontal to vertical – 110mph to 10mph – exhilarating freefall to peaceful glide. I looked overhead as the huge yellow and red parachute unfurled and filled with air. The 5000 ft freefall was over, the chute opened with no problems and now we had an easy glide for the remaining 8000+ feet. Manny was now able to talk to me and point out some landmarks and our landing point. It was hard to believe that we were going to hit the small dot of sand/gravel far below. We whirled, turned and looped through the air as if we were free as birds. To say it was an awesome experience would be an understatement of epic proportion.

The ground seemed to rise up to meet us – quickly as we neared the landing point. One last 90 degree turn brought us into perfect alignment with the landing spot. Manny reminded me to pull my knees up to my chest. We seemed to be coming in fast, but at the last moment he pulled in the reins on the chute and we touched down right in the middle of the sand/gravel pit. I was bracing for the impact of a hard landing, but in reality it was equivalent to sitting down in a chair. He unclipped me and I sprang to my feet instantly and gave the cameraman a high-five. Manny collected the chute and cleared the landing pad as Lea came in for her landing. Her landing was perfect as well – whew – safe and sound on the ground! It was cool that I got to see her jump first and then land after me. We hugged and shared our experiences as we walked hand-in-hand toward the viewing area where our cheerleaders waited for us with cameras drawn - ready to capture the moment. We enjoyed conversation over a few drinks as we watched other skydivers rain down from the sky for the next few hours.

I pondered my experience the rest of the day and well into the night and I drew some correlations between skydiving and life. I basically put my life in the hands of a complete stranger (tandem instructor), a pilot, a parachute, and a harness. I had taken a huge leap of faith, but most importantly, I knew ‘the Universe’ would look out for me. I thought about how we all occasionally fall victim to fears in life – often keeping us grounded from reaching our dreams and goals. For every dream and goal, we could easily spend the rest of our lives making excuses and letting underlying fears control our actions and destiny. Whether we are afraid to venture into business or ask the girl of our dreams for a date - sometimes one giant leap of faith is all we need to experience the thrill of life – in the sky, in business, in love, in life. We only live once – take a leap and pursue your dreams as often as possible.