You know that thing you’ve always wanted to do but just keep putting off? You should go do that thing. It’s worth it, I promise!

Sometimes “later” turns into “some day” which turns into “I wish I had.” I don’t know about you, but my biggest fear in life is having regrets. My second biggest fear in life? Skydiving.

That’s always been the thing that I was going to do some day. I can’t say I ever really wanted to go, but it’s something I felt like I should do at least once in my life, but my fear caused me to keep putting it off until later.

My view on doing things later changed drastically after my cancer diagnosis. That diagnosis ended up being a scary realization that not everyone gets the luxury of later.

With that said, I promised myself I’d finally go this year. It was actually one of my New Year’s resolutions! I got two friends to join me and although I was terrified, I’m so glad I did it. It was a crazy experience and unlike anything I have ever done before!

Heads up: expect a long wait if you ever go. We waited about 3 hours before getting in our plane and the anticipation just kept building. The hardest part for me though was the plane ride, but I’m not gonna lie, the jump out of the plane was terrifying too. I honestly don’t think I would’ve been able to make the leap without an instructor. I didn’t realize that as a first time skydiver, you really just kind of hang from your instructor and they do all the work. I didn’t even have time to think about it or second guess my decision. He walked me up to the ledge and next thing I know the wind is hitting my face. It literally takes your breath away for a few seconds.

The scariest thing about skydiving was letting go of all control and allowing a total stranger to be in charge of my life for those few minutes. Sounds kind of like a cancer diagnosis, doesn’t it? My life was in my oncologist’s hands during cancer treatment and I had no control over the outcome. For someone who’s a bit of a control freak, that’s a pretty tough concept to grasp. So why willingly let go of control again? I guess this was just my reminder to myself to continue to live life to the fullest and never take a single day for granted. I mean, there’s nothing I can think of that would make you feel more alive than falling 2 miles from a plane!

Will I ever do it again? Probably not… I feel like this was a once in a lifetime thing. I can mark it off the ol’ bucket list and move on to the next thing. The two people I went with said they would absolutely go again and again though, so I guess I’m in the minority with that one.

Now back to you and your goals- my biggest piece of advice is to set a deadline. Instead of saying, “I’d love to go skydiving (or insert less crazy goal here) someday!” say, “I will go skydiving by the end of the year.” You have to be specific with the things you want and keep yourself accountable or it’ll never happen.

Also, before I’m about to do anything that scares me, I always remind myself that if I can survive what I’ve already been through, there’s nothing in this world that I can’t do and I truly believe that. Maybe you’ve never been diagnosed with cancer, but I’m willing to bet you have been through a difficult time and overcame it. Use that negative experience and help it fuel something positive.

Lastly, as promised, here’s the video of my skydive! And before you go, drop a comment below to let me know what your “scary goal” is and tell me when you plan to accomplish it! I’d love to read through them!