Being in a new place or trying something new can be scary. I think back to the first time I ever drove a car, I was scared. I think about the first time I walked in the dark with no flashlight, I was scared..I still am. I remember the first time I looked down from high above something, I was scared. I still am. But, unless we face scary things or face those uncomfortable moments, it will be hard to grow in our lives.
Our inherent tendency is to keep ourselves safe and not rock the boat on anything. Look back to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The first level of human needs is food and water and the second level is safety. (see Maslow’s hierarchy here) We are continually fighting against the forces of entropy in many decisions that we make.
I had a recent experience that clarified how major growth happens in our lives. A few months ago, my co-workers rallied our group together to experience something we had never done before. The decision was made to go to an indoor skydiving experience called IFLY. The first feeling I experienced when I heard where we were going was fear, and then anxiety , and then a curiosity of what indoor skydiving would be like.
The day came when we were going to IFLY. As I walked in the facility, my stomach began to have that uncomfortable queasy feeling. When I saw the two large cylindrical wind tunnels used for the indoor skydiving, my stomach started doing complete somersaults. I tried not to show my rising and intense nervousness as we checked in. We were given helmets, ear plugs, and a safety explanation from Benji, the professional, who was there to guide us through the whole process.
Then the moment came to actually fly. My co-workers and I walked into one of the wind tunnel areas. The procedure was that one person would fly while everyone else sat on a bench outside the glass watching.
The first person went into the wind tunnel and managed to stay calm and look great. The same thing held true for the second person and the third. As I watched the others fly, I wondered if they had been nervous at all because they definitely did not show it.
Our guide pointed at me to indicate that I was next and that it was my turn to fly. I stood up slowly, inching toward the wind tunnel. My heart was pounding. The only thing I could hear in that moment was the sound of the howling wind but little else. The internal dialogue in my head was sporadic and panicky. My immediate thought was that I should quit. I am not gonna look very cool with the wind blasting my face. My co-workers will laugh at me if I am not good at this. I was experiencing the feeling of fear.
My hands were sweating like I had just pulled them out of a bucket of water. My legs were shaking. Benji looked at me and said, “are you ready?” I said “no” shaking my head forcefully. But because the wind was blowing so hard he couldn’t hear me and he reacted with an arm wave for me to to jump into the tunnel.
In that moment, I had to silence the thoughts in my head and have some courage. I tried to step into the tunnel on my first attempt, but the ferocious force of the wind pushed me back. I tried to step in again, but the intense force pushed me back out of the tunnel. At that moment, Benji yelled, “you have to jump in, just jump in!” making a jumping motion with his body. After he said that, I mustered up the courage and leaped into the tunnel head first. BOOM! I was flying. I was ten to fifteen feet ft off the ground, My face must have looked like a small ripple in the ocean as the strong force of the wind ramped up.
In that moment, nothing else really mattered. All those scary thoughts, all that negative dialogue I kept telling myself about everything that could go wrong, went away in an instant. I felt free. It was pure bliss. It was amazing because I had conquered something I was afraid to do. When my turn was over and I walked out of the flying tunnel, my whole team gave me a high five which made me feel incredible. I had the feeling of a true sense of accomplishment.
As I thought more about this indoor skydiving experience, I realized I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that if you want to fly in the tunnel of life, simply stepping into it won’t get the job done. You can’t step in half-heartedly to relationships, work or even your passions. You have to leap in head first in everything you do if you really want to fly.
I have often thought back to this experience wondering, “what am I trying to just step into in my life?” What if I was able to push past the fear of failure. What if was able to push past the fear of being judged by everyone around me. Those are honest feelings, and feelings that we all experience at times in our lives. However, the more we work that courage muscle, the better we become at overcoming our fears and reaping the benefits that courage produces.
There will be times that you want to do something the might seem silly to someone else, but you know deep down it is the thing you need to do. Push past the outside voices. Because if you do that, you give yourself a great chance to fly. And when you fly, the feelings you will experience are freedom, joy, accomplishment, and even transformation that will deeply impact you.
So, what is holding you back? What is keeping you from leaping in headfirst to the tunnel to start flying?