Taking A Leap of Faith

My decision to skydive encouraged my friend who was afraid of heights, to join me and conquer one of her fears as well.

In 2015, I decided to go skydiving for my birthday. I found a deal on Groupon and invited my friends to join. One friend was crazy enough to join me.

We got up early the morning of my birthday and began our journey to the middle of nowhere Florida to jump out of a plane. On our nearly hour long drive, my friend shared with me that she was afraid of heights. I was shocked that she agreed to come along with her fear of heights but glad I didn’t have to jump alone (I know selfish much, but I know she was so glad she went).

“When you choose to live your life fearlessly, you encourage others to do the same.”

We arrived at the site, signed our lives away, listened to the instructor’s give their spiel and were harnessed and ready to go! One of the perks of the Groupon was that we would have the entire experience documented via video. We each got to pick three songs we wanted to play during our ascend, descend and free fall.

This was it! It was our turn to board the plane, we each sat with our tandem partners. My friend got into the plane after me, which we later found out meant that she’d jump first. I am so glad she was the one who had to open the door and jump first because she gave me so much courage in that moment. I was nervous as hell but I couldn’t back out after I’d convinced her to celebrate my birthday with me by skydiving. So she went and I followed.

Jumping from that plane was truly an experience of a lifetime. Was I afraid, of course, but my decision to skydive encouraged my friend who was afraid of heights to join me and conquer one of her fears as well.

What have you done fearlessly that has encouraged someone else to live without fear?