Leaps of Faith

One of my former students started a blog, and her first post was about skydiving. I thought she was being metaphorical, because you know, going to college is kinda scary, a big leap of faith and what have you. No, she meant actually jumping out of an airplane with a cute tandem guide named Bobby and a parachute strapped to her back. I'm always in awe of people who do crazy stuff. I'm not really like that; I'm a "ground" kind of person. But as I watched Lyndsay and her sister Lauren skydiving, I was thinking a lot about leaps of faith.


Lauren and Lyndsay, pre-jump

As we drove out to the landing strip in the back of a generously shaking trailer truck, the tandem skydiving guides and the skydiving "hobbyists" argued that it was no more a leap of faith than going into an elevator. These people are seasoned, jumping up to 10 times a day, and they know that everything works; the parachute is well-packed, there's always a backup chute opener, the guides know what they are doing, yadda yadda yadda. But I argue that stepping out of an airplane at 35,000 feet is not really routine. We HOPE that the parachute is well-packed, we HOPE that we don't have to use the backup opener, we HOPE that the guide is well-trained. We don't know.


Safe landing

I'm going to a wedding today, and I think again about leaps of faith. Getting married is scary to me. I am always in awe of two people who put rings on the other's finger and say, "I will be there for you, and I HOPE you'll be there for me". Fingers crossed, ya'll! I would be just as nervous jumping out of a plane as I would be about getting married. This may account for why I have not done either. But I wonder if I could go through a day without any leap of faith, big or small. The first day of school is ALWAYS a leap of faith. Eating expired yogurt is a leap of faith. Shoot, wearing a sleeveless dress to this wedding tonight will be a big frickin' leap of faith.

I guess my point is that ife isn't always about "ground", sometimes (especially if you want it to be really great) it is about soaring.