Skydiving
Annie & Alison Newsletter #15
“A few years ago I went skydiving. I was in the plane, minutes from jumping, and feeling very nervous. I said to myself, ‘Either you will have the best time of your life, or you will die.’ I chose to have the best time of my life.” – An excerpt from a podcast that I listened to this week
This quote really struck me. More often than I’d like to admit, the outcome to an opportunity really depends on my posture towards it.
After hearing this excerpt, I immediately paused the podcast to ask myself: Do I look at opportunities as chances for failure or success? Am I taking myself, and my circumstances too seriously? Are my attitude or presumptions about the future keeping me from the “best time of my life?”
At the end of the day, I think it comes down to squaring up to fear. Looking it in the eye and evaluating if it’s the kind of fear that saves me from a trap, or the kind that traps me from what’s good.
I find this skydiving illustration so comforting. It’s a reminder that for all the times I’m afraid of falling, it is just as possible to have a one-of-a-kind adventure. I’m naturally wired to think “I will die if I jump off this plane.” But in reality, the chance of dying from a skydiving adventure is extremely rare. In 2018, there were a total of 13 skydiving fatalities out of 3.3 million jumps! (Thanks, Google!)
For the record, I will never actually go skydiving. I am perfectly content here on the ground, in my apartment kitchen. This week’s reviewed recipes:
79 recipes cooked, 146 to go.
During this week of cooking…
I learned… that regardless of how much I enjoy a roasted beet, an entire mouthful of pureed beet on a cracker just doesn’t do it for me. Soy sauce in granola is surprisingly nice. The harissa-rubbed pork shoulder recipe is one of my new top 10’s from the project. And avocados with Everything seasoning remind me of my childhood and favorite early adulthood vacation – all in one bite. Phew, what a week!
I watched… my very first Woody Allen movies, “Midnight in Paris” and “A Rainy Day in New York.” I won’t try to describe his cinematic style because I’ll just sound like the film novice that I am. But I thoroughly enjoyed them both. Especially Midnight in Paris because it stars Rachel McAdams (shoutout to all the “About Time” lovers) and Owen Wilson (shoutout to my fellow “The Internship” fans on the line, you know who you are).
It’s all an adventure, friends.
xo,
Annie
