Pack a Parachute

Skydiving is a hobby that I have never really understood. Excited men and women have driven out to remote locations for decades in hopes of jumping out of a plane. Personally, I find flying in 700,000 lb. aircraft at 500 miles an hour 35,000 feet above the earth exhilarating enough. That being said, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane requires a well-packed parachute.

If life is like flying in a jumbo jet at supersonic speed, then 2020 has been the equivalent of jumping out of that jet. The past 4 months have allowed me to see more clearly just how stretched we all have become. We do our best to balance work, family, friendships, hobbies, exercise, kids’ sports, and self-improvement like a high wire act. Our one foot in front of the other routine requires an amazing amount of tension to support the show we work so desperately to put on. If you listen close, you will notice the music has stopped and all that is left is the sound of glass shattering in the background.

I’m not trying to be dramatic, but have you considered that the life we had before COVID was not sustainable. The life we previously referred to as normal was actually insane. We absolutely need tension to keep moving forward but sometimes we need to appreciate the fact that things may not work out as we intended. Our margin for error had become so razor-thin that it was almost inevitable for our sandy foundations to wash away with the tide.

So here is the encouraging part. The parachutes in our lives represent the opportunities for us to safely land and maybe even have some fun on the way out of a terrifying change in altitude. Let’s be honest, we think we are smart, and we chart out a course for our lives that we think we can control and enjoy. Wisdom tells us to pack a parachute because the best parts of our life happen when the turbulence is so rough that we don’t fear jumping out of the plane we look forward to it.