The Fear Or The JoyWhich Path Are You On

It had been months in the planning for Mike and his son to go skydiving. His son was flying out from back east and they were going to do a lot of fun things while he was here. They enlisted the support of my mate for their first skydive and I joined in. We set the date and signed them up for ground school so they could jump solo. * So you know, they each have two instructors by their sides while in freefall, once they pull their parachute open they are on their own. * No tandems for these guys.

Since we were already taking people who were new to skydiving, we invited several others. Three others said yes. Now we had a caravan of people following us up to Davis, CA to jump out of an airplane. On the forty minute journey from our house, the friend in our car talked about how scared he was. He kept joking that he should leave us all his passwords to his bank accounts and call his parents. He did end up calling his parents and old girlfriend, just in case it was the last time he would talk to them. Yes, he was contemplating death as a possible outcome. I kept reassuring him of all the safety back ups on his parachute, but nothing calmed him.

We ended up sitting through half of the ground school with our friends, for some added extra support. The other couple who joined us last minute were also dealing with some major fear. At one point one of them said they were going to abandon the solo jump and go for the security of a tandem jump - an instructor would be strapped to her back. There were many questions asked about hitting telephone wires, malfunctions with parachutes and just plain making mistakes while in the air. I started getting nervous with all of this focus on what could go wrong. Yes, all skydivers are cautious so that they have a safe flight and landing, but these three people were more focused on the negatives than I had experienced before. The energy was spiraling down (no pun intended).

Eventually, they all jumped. I was on the same plane with the most scared of the bunch and then again with the father and son duo. I was there for all of their landings. Here are their outcomes.

Most scared person: Was overwhelmed for entire free fall, instructor had to place his hand on the parachute handle to remind him to pull. He pulled it but it took a several seconds for him to release it so his parachute would inflate. Safe landing. He said he was totally scared and it was life changing. He had to lay down afterward, as he was so overwhelmed with emotions. He said he would do it again.

The couple who were nervous: Liked it but spent most of their time in freefall getting used to it. Safe landings - although one flared the brakes a bit too soon and had a not so graceful landing.

Father and son: Had smiles on their face during ground school, flight, free fall and the rest of the afternoon. They both are ready to do it again.

Here’s what I noticed:

The father and son were very ready and excited to do this. They had planned in advanced and were in the joy of the experience before it ever happened. They were very present for all parts of their big day. The other three never really got to experience the true joy of the sky dive because they were in fear. They spent most of their day trying to get through the fear. They even said those exact words afterward. They said the next skydive would be so much better, now that they know what to expect.

Have you ever experienced a journey in fear that could’ve been fun? What could you have done with your perspective to change the way you were feeling?

I remember when I set the date for my first skydive. It was not my true choice to do it. Someone else signed me up without my knowledge. I prayed for rain the day of the event. I couldn’t sleep the night before. Then that morning I decided I wanted to be excited like the other five people who were joining me. As soon as I chose to be excited, I was. The fear literally melted away. I even had fun on the plane ride to my jump altitude. I did not do a solo, I did a tandem jump. This worked for me.

I believe that you need to make your choices from a true desire. I do not believe that taking risks is part of personal growth if you’re shaking in your boots. The timing may be off. Maybe the way you are doing the experience isn’t perfect for you. I would not have been able to choose from a joy to do a solo jump my first time. If something doesn’t feel right for you, ask for what you need. Ask yourself what the fear is about and what you want to do about it. If you’re scared and decide to jump anyway, choose to surrender to that choice. I was very scared when I did my first solo jump. I took deep breaths the entire time on the plane. I chose to connect to the pilot and my instructors and joke around with them, so I could relax a bit. I was still scared, but I was having a blast the whole time. I came down with a smile from ear to ear.

You always have a choice about how you want to experience something.

You can be in fear or decide to have the ride of your life.

Keep practicing the habit of finding the joy.

It’ll make for a smoother ride.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

Jeanna Gabellini is the Xtreme Abundance Coach. She'll give you all the tools you need to create financial wealth and prosperity with her personal coaching, tele-courses and audio products. Jeanna blends strategy, Laws of attraction and FUN to assist you in creating exactly what you want. Are you ready for Extreme Abundance? Go to www.MasterPeaceCoaching.com to get your free ezine or call 707-747-0447 for more info.

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