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From: toad@athena.mit.edu (John P. Jackson)
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Re: Blue Sky blues
Keywords: Gravity, inertia
Message-ID: <1991Jun7.041319.28531@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 7 Jun 91 04:13:19 GMT
References: <22538@paperboy.OSF.ORG> <935@lhdsy1.chevron.com>
Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 47

In article <935@lhdsy1.chevron.com> yzarn@lhdsy1.chevron.com (Philip Yzarn de Louraille) writes:
>In article <22538@paperboy.OSF.ORG> groff@lynx.osf.org (Paul Groff) writes:
>>...deleted text...
>>I got some serious blue sky blues...  I'm afraid of the plane ride up...
>>I don't really have the money to buy my own gear...  I think about my
>>wife and kids and wonder whether I should be in this sport...
>>...deleted text...
>>What is this damn glue on my feet?  Have any of you gone through this
>>turmoil?  Am I really a whuffo at heart?
>It is called *fear of dying*. Skydiving is not for everyone, and that's
>OK. You have a few jumps so you proved to yourself you could do it. Now
....deleted text....
>Skydive because you feel like it, not because others are doing it.
>
>  Philip Yzarn de Louraille                 Internet: yzarn@chevron.com

	I think I know what you're feeling.  The same feelings always started
to creep up on me even a day or two after the weekend when I first started
jumping.  I can imagine what you feel like after laying off for the whole
winter at your stage in your jumping activity.  From everything you said, it
sounds to me that you wish you were jumping again simply because you liked
it so much when you were doing it.  One thing that I found and many jumpers
that I know have also said goes right back to the advice that the Deland people
gave you - STAY CURRENT.  To me, part of being current is the state of mind
that I get from having jumped recently.  Part of that state of mind is that
recent feeling of pleasure and confidence that I get out of making a
successful jump, ie, I had fun, and I lived.
	Now, if you're not current, and you don't have hundreds or thousands of
jumps to reminisce about, I found that it was very easy to get butterflies.
Basically, there was a time when, current or not, I was scared shitless.
However, I can sum it all up by saying that I stuck with it because I saw all
of the experienced jumpers at the DZ having a blast every time they jumped.  I
didn't think that I was any different from them, so I kept at it even though
I was scared, hoping that someday I too could have as much fun as they.
Looking back now, the nerve racking fear was well over by my first 20-30 jumps.
Sorry I bantered so much, but I hope that this strikes a common note out there
in anyone who is having beginner jumper trepidations.  If you can get yourself
through the 'being really nervous/apprehensive' stage, you WILL get to the
point where just thinking about jumping out the door of an inflight
aircraft makes your heart race with almost uncontrollable anticipation!!!!

John Jackson
D-12027, I '91
toad@athena.mit.edu

Cuervo?
:-)!!!!