Reflection: What’s Something You’ve Done that You Never Thought You Could?-Jumping Out of an Airplane

Jumping out of an airplane. And then having to do it again four more times.

And hating every second of it!

What’s something you’ve done that you never thought you could?

When I was in the Army I had to go to Airborne School. It was a requirement, and there was no way for me to get out of it without putting my job at risk. I am SO scared of heights, I thought I would literally die of fright. I have anxiety. I hate roller coasters, I hate that dropping feeling in your stomach when you go down a hill. And this was all of that wrapped into one. The whole possibility of death if my parachute didn’t open and I forgot to pull my reserve was up there too on my worry list.

I prayed every day for rain so we wouldn’t be able to jump. And every day the conditions were perfect for jumping. But I did survive, and although I still have nightmares about it years later, I’m grateful for the experience. My friends tease me about it, because many of them have jumped hundreds of times and my horror at five is funny to them. But yep, I’m good with five, thanks 😊

What is one thing you’ve done that you never thought you could? I would love to hear about it.

Love,

Winter 🖤

8 responses to “Reflection: What’s Something You’ve Done that You Never Thought You Could?-Jumping Out of an Airplane”

  1. Won’t ever catch me jumping out of an airplane of my own free will. You’re a stronger person than me.
    Every time I make it through a mental storm, I’m amazed and relieved. It lasts too long

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    • Haha well thank you, although if I’d had my way back then I would not have been jumping at all. It was never on my bucket list haha.

      Totally, I know exactly how you feel. I go through the same thing🖤

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  2. I have that same fear of jumping from a great height. All of my siblings have done at least one charity parachute jump and I have done none. I was once on some inflatable banana being pulled on the back of a speed boat, and I had to get the pilot to stop and get me onto the boat 🤦🏽‍♀️
    The one thing I succeeded in that nearly killed me was during a Tough Mudder race (a run filled with obstacles). I could climb walls, duck under the water, crawl through the rope tunnel, be electrocuted, but I stood on the top of a 10 ft platform and looked at the water below.
    And I couldn’t jump. For ten minutes I stood up there and let other people pass me. There was a way to climb down and go around. I was going to take it.
    Then my team mates from across the pond started shouting. ‘Rita, Rita, Rita’. Then this cry was taken up by (what felt like) hundreds of other voices. The people behind me on the platform stopped going past me and waited and watched as I stood on the edge, and finally stepped off.
    As I climbed out of the other side, my entire body was shaking with adrenaline. I never want to do it again, but I have got it in my back pocket when I try something else that feels hard.

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    • Oh wow I love that! What a fantastic way to push through your fear and how wonderful that everyone supported you that way, it makes the experience even more special ❤️ And kudos to you for running the Tough Mudder, I know that’s not easy!

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  3. While I would never do it, my 17 year-old grandson, an army cadet, earned his wings and became airborne last summer. He has way more nerve than I do. While the first jump was scary, the last one that took place in the middle of the night was the most frightening, but he had the time of his life while his mother and I added more than one gray hair to our scalps.

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