Jumping. On the ground it is something that either comes easily and naturally or something that you have to work towards accomplishing. Basically, you either have hops or you don’t. When skydiving, your “jump” is effortless and the experience is amazing.

If you would have asked me last year or even before if I wanted to skydive, I would have said never. In fact, that might have been my response to most adventure requests where there was even a hint of danger. Growing up I wanted to ensure that survival was guaranteed and that risk of injury or getting in trouble was at a minimum. Basically the opposite of “Carpe DIem”. So, when I went skydiving with a friend recently it meant that I was finally walking away from those childhood fears and living out “Carpe Diem”. The experience was amazing, incredible, epic, and I could go on and on. It was one of those types of moments that will not soon be forgotten. 

I am sure as you are reading this you might wonder why would I want to go skydiving or what kind of friend would say yes without hesitation to my request to join in on this adventure. First, I can say that the friend who said yes, is amazing and has had skydiving on her bucket list for a while but did not want to jump alone. She is the type of friend that you want to have with you on any adventure as she embraces life and is always up for trying almost anything. As for me, I can assure you that I am of sound mind. But I have recently determined that life is way too short to let fear talk you out of amazing experiences. Of course you need to use wisdom, but overall you should “Carpe diem” whenever you have a chance. Also, I can sum up my new outlook in one simple sentence: “After all I have survived over the last 15 months, jumping out of a plane is simple”. 

If you are married you might often wonder the big “what if” questions. What if they die, what if they lose their income, what if they get sick and I have to step in as caregiver…the list could go on and on. What you do with those thoughts is important. Do you take them captive and speak life and the Word of God over them or do you dwell on them allowing them to become the narrative for your life? If you allow these thoughts to become the narrative for your life you are allowing fear to rule your decisions. When fear is in charge you are not living your best “Carpe Diem” life. There are 365 verses in the Bible on fear. That is one for each day of the year! 

Now, I am not saying that if you say no to skydiving you are allowing fear to win and drive all of your life decisions. I fully understand that this kind of adventure is not for everyone. Although, it is a magnificent experience that I believe everyone should at least consider once in their life. For me it was an easy yes. It was an idea, followed by the “I can do that” thought, which was immediately followed by people saying, “have fun, that sounds crazy!” or my favorite “Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” Well, you want to jump out because at 11,000 feet the views are breathtaking. You want to jump because as you free fall at 120+ MPH it actually feels like you are floating. You want to jump because after the parachute deploys you could (if you want to) literally control the intensity of the experience. I chose the scenic route to our landing zone because where we live is beautiful. It was green because of recent rains and the water on the lake was breathtaking. You want to jump because when you land you realize that you in fact really did just jump out of a perfectly good airplane just to have an incredible experience that cannot be duplicated on the ground. 

This adventure was not without the push and pull of opposing emotions. There was joy and sorrow. There was excitement and fear. There was happiness and tears. Yep, I found myself crying in the plane on the way up to 11,000 feet. Not because of the fear of leaving the plane, but because it was one of those memories that Jason would have loved to experience or even just supported me by being part of an amazing ground crew! As I wiped away the tears I watched the ground get farther and farther away and before I knew it we reached max altitude and my friend was preparing to jump. It was exciting seeing her so ready for this experience and her overall zeal for adventure. She truly lives out “Carpe Diem” in a way that is beautifully intertwined with our Heavenly Father. 

Sharing this experience with you can be boiled down to this: life is meant to be lived. Will there be opposing emotions? Yes. Will there be opportunity for fear to creep in? Yes. Will there be opportunities for you to take a leap of faith? Yes. In all of these things here is what I have learned: you can experience joy after loss. You can walk in faith after experiencing seemingly unanswered prayers. You can “Carpe Diem” even when your person is no longer by your side. 

So what is on your bucket list? If nothing, WHY? Is it fear? I’m here to tell you that you can push aside that fear, lean into the peace of your Heavenly Father and walk in faith. You can have adventure even after experiencing a big loss. Trust me…I know. I am already planning my next adventure!

Dear reader…it’s time for your next adventure!