Parallels Between Skydiving & Living (Part I)

Letting Go!

This summer, I experienced my first skydiving experience and noticed parallels with daily living. Today, I share how my old system of “agreements” threatened me, as I planned and experienced skydiving.

According to Don Miguel Ruiz (author of The Four Agreements), “Agreements are ‘ways of thinking and being’ that we picked up as a result of our environment, culture, society and upbringing.” Examples are religion, manners, and behavior. Agreements that we made throughout our lives, also, transcend our thoughts, character and emotions. Past experiences have the power to influence the reality that we create for ourselves. For example, if you were singing, as a child, one afternoon and a ‘headached’ parent came in and screamed, “You have the most horrible voice ever!” This might make you believe, forever, that you can’t sing. Personalize this example with your own and see what you come up with. Will you share your revelations with me?

Knowing for a full month that I was to go skydiving caused a reaction in and of itself. My old system of “agreements” consisted of nervousness, fear, and eager anticipation. In the past, my own insecurities overpowered the thrill and fun of the adventure. Instead of rambling on about my plans as a way of seeking others’ opinions, energy, and feedback, I chose to keep the adventure to myself. This gave me the luxury to create my own experience by allowing the moment and surrounding occurrences to inform me.

I arrived at Triangle Skydiving as an anonymous customer. They had my name, emergency contact and personal information without knowing the past agreements that had been handed down to me. Instead of being anxious, suspicious and insecure I received the briefing, training and, finally, the BIG jump with pure eagerness and excitement! I concentrated, listened and connected with the experts around me, drawing on their knowledge and experience as fuel for myself. The result was sheer pleasure, thrill and enjoyment! Try it, you’ll like it.

As you go about this day, and this week, I encourage you to examine your habits, actions and reactions to the situations around you. Ask yourself, why you do certain things the way you do? How is it that I decided to react this way? Why do I approach a certain situation this way? What are other approaches that I might take?

Tag words for internet: Triangle Skydiving Center, Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements, self examination, self improvement, life coaching