It's Good to be Alive
Well, I made it home it one piece - it's good to be back.
Yes, it's -20 outside, snowing, and sun is hiding behind the clouds, but you know what? I don't care. I think when you have a near death experience, it changes your outlook on life, even if it's temporary.
The last couple days I've relived my last day in Lanzarote, over, and over again. I try to ignore the "what ifs", but when I think about them even for second, I realize how amazingly lucky I am. I mean, seriously, I don't think there's a word in the English language that describes the good fortune that was with me when I hit those power lines - I guess it just wasn't my time to go.
There was one split second after my accident where I considered giving up the sport...the next second, my mind was made up - NO! One bad experience can definitely throw somebody off, and it'll for sure take some time for me to be back at 100%, but give up flying at this point? Not a chance.
Maybe we paragliding pilots who have been through something traumatic and who continue to fly, are greedy. When I came home and told my parents what had happened...it was hard. Thinking about my little sister and picturing her losing her big sis to a sport, well, that's hard too. The people on the ground who saw me hit those lines - man, that must have been disturbing. I think it's easy to say you'll do what you want, but remember that there are others who care about what you're doing. I've told the people I care about over and over again: I know that there are risks with paragliding, but I accept them, and try to minimize them.
Now that a couple days have passed, I'm coping better with all this - you gotta move on. I think it's important to spend some time thinking about what happened, and what will change as a result, but once you do, you've just got to live the life you've been giving another shot at.
I hope my brush with death a couple days ago will be my last for a very, very long time...especially when it comes to flying. We all take risks every day, and I still believe that paragliding is a safe sport. It's very much as safe as the pilot, and unfortunately, my lack of judgement in Lanzarote almost cost me my life...almost.
I can't wait until the weather turns - I'll be back in the sky again! :)
Yes, it's -20 outside, snowing, and sun is hiding behind the clouds, but you know what? I don't care. I think when you have a near death experience, it changes your outlook on life, even if it's temporary.
The last couple days I've relived my last day in Lanzarote, over, and over again. I try to ignore the "what ifs", but when I think about them even for second, I realize how amazingly lucky I am. I mean, seriously, I don't think there's a word in the English language that describes the good fortune that was with me when I hit those power lines - I guess it just wasn't my time to go.
There was one split second after my accident where I considered giving up the sport...the next second, my mind was made up - NO! One bad experience can definitely throw somebody off, and it'll for sure take some time for me to be back at 100%, but give up flying at this point? Not a chance.
Maybe we paragliding pilots who have been through something traumatic and who continue to fly, are greedy. When I came home and told my parents what had happened...it was hard. Thinking about my little sister and picturing her losing her big sis to a sport, well, that's hard too. The people on the ground who saw me hit those lines - man, that must have been disturbing. I think it's easy to say you'll do what you want, but remember that there are others who care about what you're doing. I've told the people I care about over and over again: I know that there are risks with paragliding, but I accept them, and try to minimize them.
Now that a couple days have passed, I'm coping better with all this - you gotta move on. I think it's important to spend some time thinking about what happened, and what will change as a result, but once you do, you've just got to live the life you've been giving another shot at.
I hope my brush with death a couple days ago will be my last for a very, very long time...especially when it comes to flying. We all take risks every day, and I still believe that paragliding is a safe sport. It's very much as safe as the pilot, and unfortunately, my lack of judgement in Lanzarote almost cost me my life...almost.
I can't wait until the weather turns - I'll be back in the sky again! :)
posted by Veronica at 8:47 PM
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