Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez

Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

I was just in South Africa where I got to speak for O’Keeffe and Swartz, and Alexander Forbes, two of South Africa’s most respected financial services companies.

The week before heading “down under,” I thought that Skydiving in South Africa had a nice ring to it. I figured I might as well check it off my bucket list while I was there.

I contacted the Johannesburg Skydiving Club and arranged to jump with Chris Grosch, a veteran skydiver who has jumped over 7000 times in the last 20 years. Chris was a trememdous guide. He kept me relaxed by telling me stories of his clients and by being relaxed himself.

The worst part of skydiving is everything that happens before the jump. The fear of the unknown. The climb to 11,000 feet takes about 12 minutes and that’s when you are nervous. That’s when you start thinking of everything that could go wrong.

Then, all of a sudden, everything starts happening really fast. The door in the back of the plane rolls open, the other six skydivers fly out the door, and the instructor has you kneel at the edge of the open plane.

That’s a good time to say your last prayer! Then, you feel a gentle push, and all you see is the ground. You are so high up that there is no sensation of falling. It’s actually a lot of fun after you jump. The fear is gone and all you feel is exhileration.

You fall for about 45 seconds and then the instructor opens the chute. Opening the chute is actually a letdown because the exciting part is over.

For the next 5 minutes you glide gently to the ground. There is absolutely no sensation of falling. You can actually steer the parachute left and right like an airplane. You can land it anywhere the wind and glideslope will let you.

The idea of skydiving is a lot more scary than the actual jump. It’s just like when you are a kid and the idea of jumping from the high dive in a pool is scarier than actually jumping. Once you do what you fear, the fear dissappears. Fear is a smokescreen. Don’t let fear of the unknown keep you from your dreams.

My skydiving instructor helped me overcome a fear. Find someone who has done what you fear and ask them to help you go for your dreams!

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
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