When I set out to start this blog on the first day of summer, my only intentions were to live it up a little more... to make my life a little more interesting. At best, I thought I might learn a few new things here and there, and try a thing or two out of my comfort zone... but, these past 60 days have given me so much more than that. As I write this, and reflect on everything over the summer, I can't help but smile, laugh, and cry over how amazing this journey has been. I'd been stuck in this rut for so long, losing myself in the idea of where I wanted to be in life... taking the focus away from where I needed to be. And, I just needed to be happy again. I needed to be happy for having the unconditional love and support of family and friends; happy to have my health; happy for having a career I am so passionate about; happy to have a home that I can call my own. This summer has afforded me with the opportunity to meet some amazing people, and strengthen friendships that already existed... and for that, I am so grateful. It is through those bonds that I was able to take myself farther than I thought possible... without their support, so many of my new and different things might've never happened.
So, on my final day, I decided to go skydiving. At the risk of sounding cheesy, the jump symbolized letting go of the old, and leaping 13,000 feet toward the newer, better, more awesome version of me. After calling/texting/emailing about 35 people, I found three souls brave enough to take the plunge with me: Lauren, Hannah, and Cole. But, things didn't go quite as planned yesterday. Our lesson was to take place at 10:30, followed by the jump around 11, but the weather decided not to cooperate. With the morning rain, and cloudy skies that followed, we didn't jump until about 5. In that six-hour waiting period, I'd built up fear, anxiety, and nervousness. Luckily, I had my co-jumpers, and friends Ginny and Christine to offer their support. Given the long wait time, Lauren had to leave before she could jump. Hannah was up first in Group 5... and leaped like a champ! Cole and I were in Group 7. As we boarded the plane, my fear and anxiety worsened. My tandem leaper, Mike, was great. He reassured me that everything would go well. I did a brief interview, asking him 1) How secure the harnesses were; 2) How many years he'd been jumping; 3) How many times he'd jumped; and 4) What his plans were for Sunday... if he had plans, he surely had every intention of keeping them (and not dying). As we held steady at 13,000 feet in the air, the plane door opened, and Mike inched closer and closer towards it. I could hear myself screaming, and felt the tears welling up... I was terrified. As we got to the door, I looked below me to fields, buildings, and cars, and screamed more loudly. Mike yelled the instructions in my ear one last time... tuck your feet and arch!
Before I knew it, we were in free fall. For a moment, I forgot to breathe... and when I opened my mouth again, I was back to screaming. Then Mike opened up the parachute, and I looked at everything surrounding us: he showed me Springfield, Hartford, the UConn campus... I don't remember the rest, because I was just taking it all in. I was still scared, but Mike continued to tell me that we would be ok. As we floated towards the earth, I took comfort in knowing that my friends were waiting down below. Once we hit the grass, the first words out of my mouth were, "Oh my God, I did it!"
I did do it. But, what I accomplished was more than just this jump... what I actually did had been a culmination of 60 days of learning and experiencing what life had to offer to me, and what I had to offer in return. I took a leap when I challenged myself to try something new and different for 60 days straight... and I never broke. And, what I found after taking one last leap through the air was the "me" who knows that I can do anything I put my mind to... because I'm just getting more awesome.
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