I Soared Like An Eagle by Karyn J. Johnson
Sunday, July 13, 2014 will probably be one of the most memorable dates in my life like my birthday or the birthdates of my children. Yesterday afternoon, I took the biggest leap of my life. I did a tandem skydive!
About a year and a half ago I got this strange notion to want to do a tandem skydive. I thought if I could do that, I could do anything. I wanted to take this huge plunge to break internal barriers and walls that were stopping me from moving forward in anyway, shape or form.
My friend, Sheldon Diggs, whose birthday is July 15th wanted to check tandem skydiving off of his bucket list and posted on Facebook that he wanted to share the moment with a friend. Without hesitation, I told him I would do it! Whoa!
For the first day or two once I registered with the Skydive Tullahoma company (located in Tullahoma, Tennessee), I did not know how to feel. One part of me was excited and anxious at the same time and the other part of me continued to repeat to myself, "You are going to jump out of a plane." I will admit that I had crazy thoughts and ideas about what was going to happen. For example, I kept wondering on the day of my jump should I take another set of clothing in case I peed on myself. Or, I thought what if I get so excited to jump out of the plane, I go to jump before my instructor (who was strapped to my back) and he hit his head on the frame of the door and pass out. Yeah, my imagination was running wild and thankfully neither one of those things happened.
What did happen was me getting so nervous that I did not even want to look out the window of the plane once we boarded. There were three people before me who would go first. When I say go, I mean go. The small garage style door on the plane was opened and the first jumper with his instructor was in the doorway and within seconds was gone. That happened two more times before it was my turn. I was the final jumper in our group.
Before I could even begin to think about changing my mind (not that I would), I found myself in the same doorway that snatched the other jumpers out. On a quick count of three from Jerald, my instructor, we were out into the wild blue yonder! I will admit as Jerald was counting down, I looked down and when he got to three, my eyes closed tightly. When I did open my eyes, we were soaring with the clouds. Jerald had me to stretch my arms wide and the eagle in me came out. We were 14,000 feet in the air coming down at 120 mph. What an experience.
For the landing, Jerald told me to pull my knees up to my chest then he had me stick them out straight in front of me. We made a safe and soft landing in a grassy field near the airport. That landing was smoother than any plane I have ever flown on. So did I break interal walls? I have not been tested yet, it's only been a day. However, I think my plan worked. I feel fearless and like I can do anything. If anyone asks me should they do a tandem skydive, my answer will be a firm YES! Enjoy the video...
"Belive you can and you're halfway there." - Theodore Roosevelt
