I’m not that girl. The one who does all of the death-defying, dangerous recreation activities. (Okay, maybe I was at one point when I was younger, but that was me trying to be tough and seeking approval from men and/or father figures.)
So why did I decide to jump off of a perfectly good cliff/mountain? (Besides the fact that the ride up in the van was nausea-inducing, and I could only imagine more of the same on the way back down).
The short answer- To Challenge myself. The long (er) answer is that I called this in (after recently watching Top Gun) and thinking to myself how Awesome it would be to do something that elevated my mindset and raised the bar a bit on what I thought I could do. I imagined myself jumping out of a plane. Wow, could I do it? I knew I was on the right track, but asked the universe to show me a sign. That same night the email came: Paragliding was being offered as an option for my training day in Tenerife. Complimentary! So many excuses I could give already flew out the door… This was it, I was all in! It was slightly less scary (in my mind) than jumping out of a plane, but still a stretch! (By the way, don’t ever Google “Is paragliding safer than sky diving?” just before you go paragliding…. You’ve been warned.
So there I was, being hooked up to this heavy pack, the staff around me speaking all in Spanish and so casually preparing- they are not worried in the slightest. Okay, all good signs. I kept repeating the instructions. Walk walk walk, Run run run. Don’t sit down. Keep running even if you can’t feel the ground any more. Got it!
I will show you the first photo from my gallery, which might just say what I was feeling without words.
Have you ever heard the phrase “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway?” This was that moment for me. I knew I wasn’t NOT doing it. I had just watched all of my friends and trainer buddies run off of the mountain and they are now gently floating toward the sea. So peaceful. So, really there is no choice any more. Surrender to the fear. Fear is not a bad thing, why are we so afraid of it? (Here is my inner dialogue in this moment).
So, after waiting what felt like eons, but was probably only 10 minutes, I finally walk walk walked, and ran ran ran, and all of the sudden my legs are running in mid-air, the pilot sits back and I am thrown into an inclined position, the metal clip taking some of my skin for a moment, ouch, but it’s okay, just a weird bruise that would be gone in a week or so. And now… Peace, tranquility- and some clouds that I didn’t expect to be so close to, a bit chilly up here. Looking down to see my friends as they are Much closer to the ocean resort where we are to land. The pilot says “We are so lucky, they are so far down there, look how high we are!” Yes, Adrian, we are SO lucky, I think, (sort of wishing I was down there) but also knowing that I want to Truly embrace the fullest experience of this. The whole purpose, to do something that I didn’t think I could do. To shift my mindset into thinking “What ELSE can I do that I didn’t think I could?”
It was actually very cool to fly out over the sea and come back in. I have to give Adrian props for keeping us up so high in the beginning, even though I was silently resenting him at first.
I’m including this next photo because I just noticed that I Knew my legs were going to buckle before it happened. Which means, I likely am the Reason they buckled. Fear that my knees would be injured? Or the fact that I couldn’t Feel my legs at this point? Either way, mindset definitely played a role here, look at that face 😂😂😂
And, there it is, legs optional apparently, but I eventually got back to my feet with a little help, and felt a little more accomplished. Thank you Universe!! What else can I do? What’s next?
Goddessed 