A blissful fall

We should all pay homage to our favorite scientists.

On random nights when there is nothing to do one should go for a drive in a convertible or hopefully a car that has at least a sunroof. Admiring the universe and all it contains is something Galileo would be proud of. Have you worked out and really noticed how your body performs? It really is a machine and the accuracy to which Da Vinci sketched the human form is remarkable. Today I decided to practice what Isaac Newton discovered. Gravity.

The weather was nice this weekend and I needed to clear my head. I am young and have much of life left to live...hopefully. Basically accidents can happen, you just have to hope to God they don't. Still as you may know I have this list of things to do before Death comes knocking on my door. Today my pencil made another lead X next to skydiving.

My roommate joined me and I was on the road by 9:30. We were on the way to Mount Pleasant, I was on my way to put on a flight suit and experience what living is all about. After 15 minutes of instructions and 7 pages of signing my life away we were off in a plane. That was the scary part. This plane seemed smaller than a VW bug with wings attached. Looking around I was amazed this thing would take off from the ground. There were no seats except the pilots. So in a single engine plane sat the aging pilot, two single skydivers, and me and the guy I was to go tandem with. I was leaning on the side of the plane since again there are no seats and he tells me not to as it could open. Looking at the tape that covered the inside of the plane I didn't doubt his judgment. At 6,000 feet one of the skydivers made his jump. My stomach dropped. I am literally three feet away from this open window with no seatbelt and not attached to the other jumper. If the plane rolled right and forward I would have fallen out. Obviously it is safer than what I am describing for they have done this more than once. Still the butterflies unraveled from their cocoon and my stomach turned inside out. At 10,000 feet the door was to open again and this time I would be falling out into the sky. I was strapped in and ready to go. I knew if I was to think about what I was about to do that I would have gotten nervous. 1, 2, 3...and in less than a second I was going over a 100 mph.

I can't describe the feeling. It is one in which stories retold only provide a glimpse of the experience. Remember your first kiss? It is a moment in our lives that we don't forget. Go back to that day whether its junior high or later. Your stomach tighetening, your palms sweaty, your heart beating faster than you ever imagined. Just wrap up that nervousness, curiousity, and desire into one precious moment. Then smile at what happened, for me that is what it felt like.

This afternoon I fell over a mile in less than 30 seconds and those 30 seconds seemed like 5. I checked the altimeter, tried to maintain position, pulled the ripcord, and automatically felt pain. The chute basically stops you from the 130mph in the same time it took to hit that speed. Long story short those straps around your legs(being a guy doesn't help this situation) and shoulders grab you. Then we slowly drifted to the ground. It was peaceful.

I'm not a fan of heights. In NYC I would look at the top of buildings and dizziness would come over me. Still I would look to try and overcome this feeling. Today I helped squash that fear of mine. As we were drifting back to the airport I tried to replay what just happened and in all honesty couldn't believe what had just happened. We landed nicely and now I proudly own a certificate saying I have skydived.

Skydiving didn't so much teach me anything, but it helped reiterate concepts/ideas that everyone should take with them. Risks are worth taking. We don't know the outcome unless we try go out and take that fateful step. We have been given this amazing time on Earth, but why waste it doing something you despise? Go out on a ledge. You can look down if you want, but in the end you need to look back up. Life is in front of you, not in the past. Jump. Make everyone of your living dreams a reality.