Well, AJ’s post somewhat inspired me to write about something quite common among Skydivers…
Our friends and family just don’t get it.
Whuffos ask us the same thing all the time, why we do it.
Our friends who’ve already heard the answer to that question go even farther as to just ask what we see in the sport or why we blow all our money on it, or why we talk about it so much
They simply can’t understand it.
Well, I don’t understand why they find it normal that a golfer pays 25 000$ on a golf club membership.
Or 10 000$ a year on scuba gear, yet can’t seem to find it normal for us to spend it on skydiving.
Actually to be 100 truthful, my friends HATE listening to me talk about skydiving…
They don’t have the same passion I do, they don’t understand how I could spend so much time on a sport which is “repetitive” (I.E. always jumping out of a plane, same feeling)
They’ve never done it, so they don’t know that no two jumps are identical, they don’t get that I won’t get tired of it, they simply don’t understand that a passion is a passion regardless of what it is. Skydiving isn’t something that everyone else does, but it’s something I do, no, it’s not something I do, it’s part of who I am.
I’m not a scuba diver, or a golfer, I’m not a tennis player, a basket ball player, a baseball player, I’m not a horse back rider, I don’t own a motorcycle, and I sure as hell don’t play cribbage.
I’m a skydiver. I find it fun to throw myself out of planes and ride a parachute half way down and I have met a bunch of people who feel the same way.
AJ’s instructor Ryan had it on the nose when he said “They just don’t get it”.
And any of you new to the sport, heed this advice, for it is wise: Don’t start talking to your friends and family about the sport, because all they’ll do is feign interest. Share your passions with people who share them with you.
– Adam
They sure don’t get it. Kinda like I don’t get the way most of my friends have recently become baby making machines. Not a day goes by that I don’t read (on Facebook) about diaper changes, sleepless nights, colics, first words, first steps, or how cute it was when “baby” kissed the cat…. Exciting? Sure, to you but nobody asks you to stop talking about the baby for a nano second, or tell you that you are crazy for having children. We may not be reproducing (some of us may and that’s cool) but skydiving is what is exciting in our lives and for those of us who own our own rig often refer to it as our baby. So, we don’t need to understand each other but we definetly should be happy for whatever it is that keeps us satisfied in life.
Thank you.
Ah! It’s so true… I’m done talking to Whuffo’s about skydiving!