Recently, my boyfriend and I went skydiving. Yes, skydiving, like jumping out of a plane at 10,000 ft. Real life. It was insanely awesome and honestly life changing. I learned a lot that day about myself and living life.

1. Facing your fears is incredibly empowering. Doing something that scares you is an awesome feeling. All my life I always said I would never go skydiving because it was too dangerous and the thought of free falling out of a plane at 10,000 feet in the air terrified me. Then, in May, my boyfriend’s mom got us tickets for my birthday to go skydiving. It took about five months for everything to line up and finally book our jump, but when the day finally came and they started strapping on the harness, the fear finally hit me. Thankfully I had an awesome instructor who made sure I felt comfortable and safe. (Brandon at Skydive Jersey, I’m lookin’ at you!) Once we got in the plane and took off, I knew there was no turning back and the adrenaline took over. I was the first of the tandem jumpers to go out and as soon as our feet left the ledge, I knew I made the right decision. By letting go of my fear, I was able to have an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

2. When an opportunity presents itself, grab it! I think the reason that I thought the tickets were such an awesome gift (other than the fact that it was the coolest thing I’ve ever received!) was that I know I never would have gotten these for myself. I thought about skydiving but never had the guts to go through with it. But now I had the chance, so of course I took it! Life presents us with so many opportunities every day. Sometimes we take them and other times we pass, for various reasons. After this experience, I’m determined to be more of a “yes” person.

3. Worrying about something you can’t change is pointless. In the weeks leading up to the jump, everyone would ask me if I was excited or nervous. My response was always the same: “I’m okay cause I’m not really thinking about it.” I felt like if I thought about skydiving and planned for it then I would drive myself crazy with irrational scenarios. I knew everything was going to be fine so there was no real point in worrying.

4. Our world is beautiful. Okay, this one is cheesy, I know. But from up in the air, we were able to see so much of New Jersey’s beautiful farmland, and we even got a glimpse of Philadelphia in the horizon! It helped that it’s autumn because all the colors down below were gorgeous. When Brandon pointed out Philly, I didn’t see it right away. But I stopped for a second to really focus and was able to spot it. This made me think of all the times we ignore the beauty around us because we’re so focused on ourselves.

5. You should try everything at least once. We only have this one life. We’re only young for so long. Some opportunities come around once in a lifetime. Take advantage of this life we’ve been given and live life to it’s fullest. That weird escargot dish at some restaurant? Eat it. That really creepy haunted hayride? Do it. Those skydiving tickets? Use them. You’ll never know if you don’t try. 

6. In the great words of Amy Poehler: “Great people do things before they’re ready.” I definitely don’t think I was ready. I didn’t mentally prepare myself. I didn’t really do any research or look up what to expect. Honestly, the only precaution I took that day was applying extra lip balm so the air pressure didn’t dry out my lips. Amy Poehler’s full quote is, “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it.” In the past year or so I’ve lived by this and it’s helped me conquer new challenges and take on new experiences.