Yes, that's me up there! Interestingly enough, I used to be deathly afraid of heights.
I'm not suggesting para sailing is the best way to overcome a fear of heights but it worked for me.
Sometimes, the only way through a fear is to meet it head on.
That's what I did in this case.
My wife, Georgia, and I were vacationing on Marco Island, Florida several years ago and I was sitting on the beach watching people flying in parachutes over the water.
I thought to myself, "That looks like a lot of fun.
" Then, the little voice inside reminded me that I had a lifelong fear of unsecured heights.
Sure, I was fine in airplanes but to hang out in a parachute was more than I could imagine.
After a few days of anxiously watching people having fun I decided to face one of my worst fears.
I walked over to the man at the rental booth and asked him if it was safe to do this.
Dumb question.
Like he was going to say no:-) He said, "It's so safe we have young children doing it and I even have an 80 year old woman who comes every few weeks to do it.
What a closer:-) Now, what am I supposed to say? That this big macho guy is too scared to do it? No way! I said sure and paid the man.
I will admit that I was frightened half to death when I got up there.
I figured since I was a good swimmer I would not worry.
Once I saw how high I was going, I realized it did not matter.
If I fell, I would splatter - good swimmer or not.
After a while, I loosened my painfully tight grip on the parachute lines and actually began to enjoy the ride.
What a sight from several hundred feet above the island.
By the time I got back down, I had next to no fear of high places.
Sometimes we just have to look our fears right in the eye and do it anyway.