Yesterday I was chatting to a good friend of mine who recently went skydiving for the first time. Now, for those of us that have enough trouble introducing ourselves at a cocktail party, the thought of wilfully jumping out of an airplane just for the thrill of it is absolutely terrifying. In fact, is is hard to imagine a more unnatural act for a human being than jumping out of a moving vehicle suspended several thousand feet in the air. Well, maybe you can imagine, but let’s not go there… So I ask my friend, “What were you feeling leading up to it?”
“I was scared until I made the decision to do it, but then I just kept telling myself that statistically, I had more chance getting killed in a car accident on the way to the airport, than in actually jumping out of the plane,” he says. “Once I got up there I was totally calm.” And I knew he was being honest – this is one calm, cool and collected guy. It struck me that in the end, this is what we are all striving for. The ability to face our fears in a rational manner, and convince our brains that those fears are not justified or grounded in fact.
Sometimes it helps put things in perspective to think that if people can overcome REALLY challenging fears like that, then things that we feel anxiety about in everyday life – like making small talk – are laughably small and unjustified in comparison. Despite what my buddy says, if the parachute doesn’t open there is a pretty good chance you are going to come to a very spectacular demise. If anybody has ever died attempting to introduce themselves to a group of three people, on the other hand, I would love to know how (killed by a falling parachutist?)
