Hello steemit ! 27/08/2016 My name is Cian and following is a small glimpse into my life and my new passion....
One thing that should be noted before reading this article is that I never intended to jump out of a plane !
it started with this stupid pool jump, and things escalated from there thanks to my crazy buddy Fraser....
I had visited once, but on this occasion I was going to take my son for some motivation and inspiration.
You see Fraser's a great marketer and like my son he's still young, so as a dad it made sense to connect them.
The deal was if I don't make it, when you get back to the UK I will go skydiving with you ! (big mistake).
The problems began when I had some problems renewing my sons passport, as a man of my word I felt bad that I was going to be unable to attend, and made my apologies but agreed that I would honour my promise to skydive.
Suddenly as if from nowhere I got the call ( in a Scottish accent ) " Cian , it's Fraser ! I'm in Scotland and the course is all paid for. I'm heading down next week. Are you ready? " I couldn't back out. Its not my style.
So I booked my jump. A lot went through my mind that week... thoughts like... " are you crazy !" and " You need to cancel ! " but it had been a really busy week and I had been called something by a relative that sealed the deal.
You see my mum who I love dearly has had an ongoing battle with alcohol. It started a long time ago and resulted in me going into a children's home when I was 12. Followed shortly after by my younger brother and sister. "But what does that have to do with this ?", I hear you ask. I'll explain, during a heated " debate " (nothing to do with skydiving) my mum had called me a coward. I had to prove her wrong, maybe I felt a bit like Marty Mcfly when Biff called him a chicken, whatever the reason I knew what I had to do.
The thing is I have a close relationship with fear, at work it's when a client " kicks off " on my bike its when a car pulls out unexpectedly. Adrenaline rushes are common for me, but this was new, this scared me.
The day arrived and I spent the day at ground school, by this time I had watched practically every skydiving tutorial and motivational video out there. But I still felt the fear.
The next morning... jump day arrived, a quick refresh of malfunction drills, a test to see if I had remembered my free fall drills and canopy control and the announcement came " Weather hold ! No chance your jumping today it's too windy " I felt soooo off the hook it was hard to look upset like all the other jumpers.
I decided to visit a wind tunnel to get some practice as the day was already free.
Fast forward one week and it was perfect weather ( oh shit! ) time to drive to Hibaldstow. I could smell the kerosene of the plane just thinking about it, I like the smell of kerosene but it now had a completely new association and conjured up images of me falling out of the sky (followed by a brief adrenaline rush).
As the plane took off I remember feeling pretty in control of my fear, although i was closest to the door and using all the strength in my legs just to stay on the seat. I was running through all the drills in my head " Heading , altitude, x000 feet, x000feet " most of all I ran through the malfunction drill, I needed that as much as oxygen by now !
I remember feeling surprised that I had controlled my nerves, and then as I stood up... my legs felt like jelly !
Was it the plane ride ? or had my nerves gone into my legs ? I dont know the rest is in the video below....
I was on the ground safely !
it was an awesome feeling. I had a hundred reasons to jump out but I had 100,000 reasons to get back to terra firma ( in one piece). I was exhausted, I lay down for a second or two after my parachute pulled me over then quickly gathered it into my arms. As I walked towards the bus that had come to pick me up I felt awesome, but I made a mistake ! I decided to jump again. This was where I failed the level 2 AFF and got my ego back in check.
I call it the disaster video, but as i'm sure you can appreciate... I gave myself a half-pass for getting back down in one piece.
I probably would never have jumped again ! But I just couldnt end the story with a fail. So a couple of weeks later I headed back to Hibaldstow. I jumped with two different instructors and I was determined to put my epic fail behind me. Here is my repeat of level 2....
I passed, So I did the unthinkable (based on my past history) and decided to jump again ! But this time nothing was going to make me fail, I knew I had to be relaxed and I did just that. I
And that is the story of how I began skydiving. I still dont feel comfortable jumping out of planes, but I get a mixture of excitement and fear.
If I continue I intend to focus on formation free fall with my buddy Fraser.
On that topic, Fraser has completed his course now ( 8 levels ) and has his skydiving license. My mum and I are getting on much better and my son is soon to start a career in modifying cars.
If you ever decide to face your fear and jump out of a plane.... I salute you ! If it's not for you.... I understand, and salute you too. As for me, I still don't know how I feel about jumping. One thing I have learnt is this.....
time is precious !
Please feel free to comment, follow and upvote if you enjoyed this post.
Best Wishes,
Cian
PS... heres my favourite skydiving Video, hope you like it too :)
