When I was in college I was invincible. Life is fleeting, and all I knew back then was that I wanted every moment to count. Every moment to be memorable. Which explains the years that I thought it was completely justifiable to get drunk, rip my clothes off, and run down the street with a bong clutched in my hand and tassels dangling from my nipples. Or when I didn’t think twice about bungee-jumping in that really sketchy neighborhood in Mexico for only $5. Smart? No. Memorable? Definitely. Hey, I never claimed to be the smartest person. Don’t judge.
Yesterday I got word that my sister-in-law wanted to go sky-diving for her 30th birthday with all of the adults in our family. I was, well…. horrified. Seriously. In the last decade life has become a lot more fragile. I make sure I’m more careful and avoid any unnecessary risks. I have an amazing husband and future goals that I’m not ready to put on the line for a cheap thrill. Of course, Alex was excited about the prospect of going before I shot him a nervous look and he decided to back down from the idea. I’m such a bore and a damper on a good time. Whoops.
Would you want to go sky diving for your birthday? What if you had 3 young children and a lot to put on the line if, heaven forbid, something went wrong? Have you gone sky diving and think it’s totally safe (enough for me to not worry about my husband going?)
The Shameful Sheep 
I would definitely go sky diving. It’s in the bucket list 🙂
You are far braver than I 😀 Hope you get to go.
Never done it, not really my thing, but maybe 20 years ago I would have…I was more of a dare devil then, but at 45 now, my body just says nope, I’ll stick to hiking, skiing…things that still get my blood pumping, but feet on the ground! My kids are in there 20’s, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t do it as a mom of young ones now that I think of that aspect. Just do what your heart tells you…it’s always right!
Things on the ground seem like a lot better choice, right? Lol. There’s no way I will go, I truly have no interest in it at all. But my husband wants to, and that scares me even more!
Well if he does hopefully it will just be one time only and he will stay safe.
No spank you!
Amen lol
Skydiving is one of those things I’ve really wanted to do, so I’ll switch it out for something that gives me a lot of pause. Hm… Diving in a cage to see sharks. I wouldn’t do it, and I wouldn’t let anyone make me feel pressured to do it. But I’d totally let the bloke go because it’s his life, and he has to live it.
He once told me that if he got the chance to go into space and there was a 90% chance he’d die, he’d still do it. Weirdo, but dreams are dreams.
We don’t have kids, though. Not even extended family, really, so my opinion might be a bit moot.
That’s funny, because going in a cage with sharks is actually something I’ve wanted to try haha. I never will… because it’s an unnecessary risk and not worth it to me. Going into space? Hell nooooooooooo. That’s just crazy.
Yes! Space IS crazy!
Of all the things to pick, I like how I picked something that you feel the same about as I do skydiving. ^_^
Ah, I’m pretty dull as it is, but after the car accident I was in last spring, I find it difficult to make excuses for taking risks or just being plain negligent.
I’m in the same boat. I totaled my car about 5 years ago in a scary accident and it changed how I looked at pretty much everything. Life’s just not worth putting on the line anymore.
I have no desire to go sky diving with everything being so great in my life. I have put my life on the line many many times in the past because of my journalism career and my drug addiction. I was prepared to take risks that were literally suicidal. And that was because I had spent so long actually being suicidal and wanting to kill myself that I had no regard for my own life. Now I am very happy I don’t want to take unnecessary risks. Maybe when I’m 90 I’ll do it though..
I’m glad you are in a better place and happy 🙂
I went skydiving when I was 16. I suffer from the worst anxiety ever and I freaked out the whole way, but as soon as you lift off and you’re up there you don’t even think about it! and its so amazing and beautiful. pictures don’t do it justice, when you’re actually out in the open sky it’s beautiful. and to be honest, you’re strapped to an instructor guy so the risk of anything going wrong is pretty slim.
16? Wow. I didn’t even know they’d let you go that young. Brave 16-year-old lol. I can only imagine how breathtaking the view is. I love the view from being in a normal plane. I’m sure it’s significantly better sky diving!
in England the age restriction is 16 and over to skydive haha! but yes, it’s so beautiful that all of the fear literally disappears! and the feeling is not like you would think.. its like when you drive down a motorway looking into the horizon.. that’s how it feels! whereas a lot of people think its like a roller coaster ride which is soo wrong haha! but do it you’ll love it!!!
Putting my socks on is sometimes dangerous. Skydiving might be less so. I can understand your hesitation…send your husband but check he’s signed all the relevant documents first.
Smart thinking haha. Gotta check that life insurance policy 😀 Are your socks, perhaps, alligators? I’m curious how they are dangerous lol
Because once, when I was climbing inside my socks, I tripped and broke a toe.
Of course you did 😀
Blair, wasn’t it fun when we felt we were more invincible and knew less (or cared) how stupid we were being. As we age, we gain more responsibilities and hopefully have learned more lessons with our scars and tears, but inside each of us that candle of stupid risk taking still burns. Keith
Right? Mine is burning, but it’s just a tiny flicker now 🙂 A risk to me now is wearing flip-flops in the rain. I’m such a bore lol
Those flip-flops in the rain. When I used to drop my daughter at high school, it would be 19 degrees and the girls would have flip-flops on, still wearing a coat.
My risks are more the Don Quixote type, where I put on my fake armor and fight windmills, such as our wonderful legislature in Raleigh or in DC.
I would not go skydiving. I am just not that daring. Maybe indoor skydiving. Thats fun! Some bumps and bruises and a big ol fan lol. Honestly i’d only go skydiving if I knew I was going to die anyway from like a terminal illness or old age but I don’t discourage others not to lol. I think that would be an awesome 30th bday memory. :]
Oh, if I was on my way out… I’d totally go sky diving haha. At that point, it’s totally worth the risk. My sister went indoor sky diving recently and said it was amazing. I could totally get down with that idea 🙂
Tassels??????? 🙂
I was trying to keep it classy 😉 Haha
We’ll, I admire you for many things, but tassels moved you to the top of the favorites list! 🙂 Movie Star!
Oh snap! Who knew nipple tassels would wake such a difference in my life. Thank god I did that back in the day 🙂
Ha ha… 🙂
I would go skydiving, and I’ve got two kids. I’ve always wanted to go. Just never had the opportunity.
Pretty daring of you ! You couldn’t pay me to go lol
You could definitely pay me to go. A million dollars even!
Okay, maybe for a million 🙂
Now we are talking.
A coworker just went skydiving for her 40th birthday and she absolutely loved it. It’s on my bucket list too. It sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. It’s got potential to be a real watershed moment for personal life as well. I say go for it!
I don’t think I could get myself to go! I’m way too scared haha
I agree Todd. She should go for it. I have a friend who jumped recently in tandem. Blair, that’s an option….tandem skydiving.
Yikes! There was a time that this would have appealed to me… not anymore!
Agreed 🙂
Went skydiving when I was 19 years old and stupid. Almost 2 decades later and I wouldn’t do it again if someone paid me! I had paid to have another guy jump and video tape my jump, but instead the memento I have is a video reminder depicting the panicked frenzy of the guy whose chute wasn’t opening and who had to open his backup chute with such a delay that he took a hard landing in a field of shrubs! I don’t think the universe could have sent me a clearer message about how dangerous skydiving is!
Holy crap. That’s scary as hell… I can’t even imagine.
I’m basically a coward, so skydiving is something I would only do without a plane. Seeing that planes are the generally accepted mode for getting up into the sky—minus catapults, explosions, and jumping off of buildings—I probably won’t be participating in any skydiving adventures in the near future, unless of course, I happen to be on a plane and the plane starts to go down. In which case I might be doing it, but completely against my will—and without the parachute no less! Anyway, skydiving doesn’t sound like it’s for the faint of heart. (Thud!) Quick, get the smelling salts! Apparently, just thinking about doing skydiving caused me to faint out of fear.
Oh, I hear ya. The idea makes me a little woozy too lol. Going in a plane in general nowadays freaks me out as it is. Then jumping out of one? Not cool
Oh I so agree. Happy Easter. 😀
Same 🙂
‘o)
I’d absolutely do it. How many people do you hear of actually getting killed or even disabled from skydiving every year? Way less than get killed from car accidents, and we get in cars and drive places all the fucking time.
That’s true. But… It’s jumping out of a plane! I can’t wrap my head around it lol
I’m considered to be a moderate risk-taker because I’m a pilot. I work hard to be very educated and safety-conscious but in the end private flying is considered to be somewhat risky. But jumping OUT of airplanes? No way. I also have dependent family, so no parachuting or bungee-jumping or rock climbing for me. I consider those activities to be too high risk.
Agreed. Being a pilot is pretty risky. I won’t even step into a small plane…. I can’t imagine flying one regularly lol.
Even if it goes wrong you’re probably going to be okay.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1134203/First-time-skydiver-steers-safety-tandem-instructor-dies-mid-air-heart-attack.html
Interesting! Thanks for the link 🙂
I wouldn’t go either ! I think your sister-in-law could consider anything else that everyone could enjoy and have an opportunity to have all family together.
Totally agree. The majority of family members will be left out of the sky diving trip! Seems strange
I a
Grr..my phone is acting funny. Sorry for the previous comment. I am a scared little kitten when it comes to doing anything adventurous and my husband is the complete opposite. But, I have done sky diving and it was an amazing experience. But, now that am a parent, I wouldn’t do it again, nor let my husband do it. And he has already done it twice!
I’m a scared little kitten too! Haha. And I’m not even a parent yet 🙂
Yes, I’d go skydiving. Or maybe I would just do that thing where you only feel like you’re skydiving….the wind tunnel skydiving indoors thing. There’s something inside of me that really wants to do something adventurous……so yes, I think I’d do it.
Id definitely do the indoor one. Sounds fun, and safe! Lol
Oh, hell no! If I want to live on the edge I just hop in the car and drive to the market! 😉
Exactly! That’s risky enough 😀
Sky diving I can’t wrap my mind around, but a hot air balloon ride? Bungee Jumping (in a not sketchy area of Mexico)? Oh hell yes! I want to do more and experience more. I went to Hong Kong a few years back and I’d love to go to another country. I’d also love to take a long road trip, maybe up North for the Fall. I don’t believe in taking unnecessary risks, but a few can’t hurt.
Oh, I love road trips. There’s nothing much like a slow car ride through the country with a lot to see! Hong Kong, wow. I’d kill to go there.
Why jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft!
Madness I tell you!!
Right? Haha
I wouldn’t want to go sky diving. I also don’t think that something has to be dangerous or scary in order to be memorable. Although I sometimes enjoy doing things that, as a consequence, could have risks involved, I don’t enjoy those things because of those risks. When I think about living my life to the fullest–and I even have a tattoo on my right arm that says ‘live your life’–it’s a collection of being brave to do things that are both adventurous or out of my comfort zone, and things that are right for the life I want to follow.
Being memorable is deciding what’s right for *you*, at the time you are making that decision. Because at so many points in our life what we want or who we want to be can change; just like maybe in the past you might not have been so hesitant to jump out of a plane. And I think that’s something that as a society we forget. We think ‘living your life’ means never being afraid or taking into account all aspects of a decision. That in order to be amazing or memorable it has to be slightly crazy, impulsive, or dangerous. I think it’s equally brave to jump out of plane, as it is to decide not to.
I am single, childless…and I take zero risks. I envy people who do though. The YOLO attitude is definitely one I won’t mind adopting. But I am too cautious to actually do it. So I stick to easy non-risky thrills…like going for a nice dinner for my 30th birthday followed by a photo shoot. 🙂
We sound alike lol. I take comfort in the normal. I wish part of me could be a risk taker, but it makes me too nervous to justify the risk at all!
“Risky” is going with 100% stocks in my 401(k). LOL
I have no desire for gravity to slap me into a pancake!
I hear ya haha.
for my 35th birthday I went cliff diving (well, jumping) and learned to drive a stand up jet ski. Came home full of wonderful stories (and bruises). Now that I’m no longer 35, My risks are less risky – I went INDOOR skydiving instead – all the fun of floating midair, with none of the risks of a shoot that won’t open. I highly recommend it! (Whatever you do, don’t wave while “skydiving” – I shot right at the wall in front of me!)
Good tip 😀 I think indoor skydiving sounds pretty fun actually! I could get myself to do that one. Outside? Scaryyyy lol
I’ve been skydiving with all my friends and loved it!! However we were just talking the other day about the fact we may never do it again cause hey, we lived once!! Why risk it?? It is super awesome though and like nothing I’ve ever done
You are far braver than I 😀
Or just far crazier? Haha
I used to have the desire to skydive when I was young (and crazy). But, as they say, “This, too, shall pass…”
Right? 🙂 It passed a long time ago for me lol