Quick story for you 

My girlfriend at the time thought it would be a great idea to book me a skydive for my birthday.

Not just any skydive, the highest one in the UK. 

I thought it was a terrible idea and didn’t find out until a couple of days before. My mum persuaded her to give me a few days notice to mentally prepare myself. 

Heights were my biggest fear. I remember feeling sick on the Eiffel tower looking over the edge. I always started to think what if I fell? Even though I was safe. 

When my girlfriend told me I felt like saying, “No way am I doing a skydive.”

Despite thinking it was a crazy thing to do, I said I’ll do it. My girlfriend had done one before so I would have felt embarrassed saying no. 

I wanted to be okay with heights and not feel scared anymore. 

I didn’t feel ready and I felt terrified just thinking about it. 

It would be an opportunity to face my fears. Who knows I might enjoy it. 

I planned to give it a go and do my best to stay focused and complete the jump. 

Next thing I remember I’m in the hotel the night before, thinking about all the worst things that could happen. 

I couldn’t get my head around what I was going to do. 

My girlfriend told me that we would free fall for 10 seconds. I found out on the day by the skydiving instructor that we would actually free fall from 15,000 feet in the air for over a minute at 124 mph. Yes free falling for a minute at 124mph.

We looked outside and there it was a tiny little plane in the distance. 

We walked up to the plane as we were blown back by the propellors. We jumped in and sat with our instructors. Now it’s real, we are going to jump from 15,000 feet.

It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies so we could see everything. 

I remember after ascending for a good 15 minutes I looked out and thought we have got to be ready to jump now. I asked my instructor to look at his altitude watch. We was just 5,000 feet in the air, we had another 10,000 to go. 

We got to 15,000 feet and we slid out to the side of the plane. ~The camera man jumped out, I then kicked my girlfriend out first.

It was now our turn. There’s no turning back now. 

Looking out was like looking at a map, it was surreal. 

I felt more excited and eager to jump out, I didn’t want to wait any longer. 

We leaded forwards and backwards and then we fell out of the plane. 

My stomach dropped and I felt the feeling of when you drop on a rollercoaster for a couple of seconds. 

I remember the skydiving instructor tapping me to lift my arms up. 

I lifted them up and couldn’t stop smiling. It was INCREDIBLE.

We free falled for a minute at 124 mph. The view was unbelievable. 

Then suddenly the parachute opened and it felt like we shot up in the air. 

It was absolute chaos and exhalation to peace and tranquility as we floated down to the ground. 

I just smiled from ear to ear and took in the view. I was celebrating and enjoying the feeling of achievement. 

When we landed back on the ground I felt AMAZING. It was one of the best experiences ever. I felt like I could achieve anything now that I had faced my fears. 

I was ready to go up and do it all over again. 

Ever since that moment, I’ve looked at fear differently. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is really an opportunity to grow. 

It elevates your mindset and helps you to overcome challenges. I felt much more confident to take on new challenges. 

Years later I organised a charity skydive and inspired 10 students to do a jump.