random weird thoughts in my mind (not specific skydiving question)

It has confused me for a very long time...

like I get up in the morning, stare at the sky, and suddenly there is a random thought in my mind asking me :" Why do I jump? Is it worth it?"    something like that..even I am super stoked about skydiving.. it's like "two personality" lol

My personal explanation to this is my brain, my survival instinct, but idk. 

Why do I skydive? honestly I don't have a clear answer. Is it fun? Yes. Is it like nothing else? Yes. Is it the most incredible thing you have ever done in your life? Yes. But I still don't have a clear answer...

People skydive for different reasons. Personally I got hooked for the same reason some people do certain drugs. It's all about the rush.

I used to ask myself that all the time... After a couple years I wound up hanging it up.

14 years later I’m picking it back up because I never stopped missing it.

I still can’t explain why.

I’m happy when I jump, I’m happy when I hang out at the DZ, I love the people I jump(ed) with, I love the rush, and I’ve never found anything else quite like it.

13 hours ago, David Wang said:

It has confused me for a very long time...

 

David, how long you been jumping??? LOL!!!  

Why does anyone do something dangerous?

It could be riding motorcycles (street or track), fast cars, scuba diving (caves & shipwrecks especially), hunting dangerous game, climbing (rock or mountain), and on and on.

The answers are as varied and wide ranging as the people doing it.

The rush, the challenge, the satisfaction of doing something most others wouldn't, the cameraderie of being around like-minded people, and many other reasons.

Dan BC had a quote that bounced around FB a couple years ago. Something to the effect of:

What we do is really, really stupid. Intentionally throwing one's self out of a plane for fun would be the dumbest thing in the world, except for the fact that flying through the air, with no support at all, just you and the sky, is the most amazing thing in the world.

My reasons and responses to the wuffo question of 'why do you do it' has evolved over the years.

Currently, I will answer 'Because it's the most amazing and incredible thing I've ever done, and my life would be dull boring and grey without it.'.

That doesn't discount the risk. I've been around long enough, seen enough and lost enough friends that I understand that any time I go out the door, it might be the last thing I do on this earth.

I have asked myself more than once: "Is it worth it?"

The answer someday will be 'No, it's not'. That will be the day I hang it up.

But not today (well, whenever stuff opens up and I can go up again anyway).

 

Man small

Why fall?

Skies call

That's all

        - Keech

7 hours ago, gowlerk said:

People skydive for different reasons. Personally I got hooked for the same reason some people do certain drugs. It's all about the rush.

But I don't think I am addicted to adrenaline tho

5 hours ago, nate_1979 said:

I used to ask myself that all the time... After a couple years I wound up hanging it up.

14 years later I’m picking it back up because I never stopped missing it.

I still can’t explain why.

I’m happy when I jump, I’m happy when I hang out at the DZ, I love the people I jump(ed) with, I love the rush, and I’ve never found anything else quite like it.

skydiving has made me become a more happier person for sure...Maybe that's the reason! :)

1 hour ago, timski said:

David, how long you been jumping??? LOL!!!  

Best reply lol 

I skydived for 40 years because skydiving helped keep my dopamine levels up. for some reason, my body does not naturally generate the same levels of dopamine as most other people. In order to kick-start dopamine production, I need to do something mildly dangerous like running or flying or skydiving. With regular skydives, my body learned to generate regular amounts of dopamine.

Another theory is that schoolyard bullies and regular spankings at home conditioned me to expect "X" amounts of fear and pain in my life. All those beatings programmed me to expect "X" amount of adrenaline per day. As an adult, I learned how to avoid bullies, but still expected those same levels of fear of and pain. I experimented with a variety of ways to artificially generate those same levels of fear and pain. I Drove fast until I realized the foolishness of that. Drinking to excess just left me feeling hung-over the next day. I never found a recreational drug that generated comfortable levels of adrenaline. Bar room brawling soon proved an awkward way to get my adrenaline levels up. I climbed rocks until the sport quit scaring me. I rode bicycles too fast until I lost too much skin during too many "high speed dismounts".  I flew airplanes until I could no longer afford to rent Cessnas enough to stay current. Running helped. But skydiving was the only regular adrenaline generator that I could consume on a regular basis. So I quit my regular job and pursued skydiving as a full-time career for 18 years. I only quit skydiving after the nearest DZ closed and I got into an argument with the next nearest DZO. Since the next nearest DZO and I were never going to agree on the use of seat-belts, I concluded that it was foolish to fly in his airplanes without seat-belts and I quit skydiving completely.

I still miss the cameraderie and adrenaline rush of skydiving.

16 hours ago, riggerrob said:

I skydived for 40 years because skydiving helped keep my dopamine levels up. for some reason, my body does not naturally generate the same levels of dopamine as most other people. In order to kick-start dopamine production, I need to do something mildly dangerous like running or flying or skydiving. With regular skydives, my body learned to generate regular amounts of dopamine.

 

Another theory is that schoolyard bullies and regular spankings at home conditioned me to expect "X" amounts of fear and pain in my life. All those beatings programmed me to expect "X" amount of adrenaline per day. As an adult, I learned how to avoid bullies, but still expected those same levels of fear of and pain. I experimented with a variety of ways to artificially generate those same levels of fear and pain. I Drove fast until I realized the foolishness of that. Drinking to excess just left me feeling hung-over the next day. I never found a recreational drug that generated comfortable levels of adrenaline. Bar room brawling soon proved an awkward way to get my adrenaline levels up. I climbed rocks until the sport quit scaring me. I rode bicycles too fast until I lost too much skin during too many "high speed dismounts".  I flew airplanes until I could no longer afford to rent Cessnas enough to stay current. Running helped. But skydiving was the only regular adrenaline generator that I could consume on a regular basis. So I quit my regular job and pursued skydiving as a full-time career for 18 years. I only quit skydiving after the nearest DZ closed and I got into an argument with the next nearest DZO. Since the next nearest DZO and I were never going to agree on the use of seat-belts, I concluded that it was foolish to fly in his airplanes without seat-belts and I quit skydiving completely.

I still miss the cameraderie and adrenaline rush of skydiving.

Hi Rob, 

As do I.

Jerry Baumchen

Skydiving became a lifestyle for me long ago.  I have spent 70% of my life at the DZ and wasted the other 30%.

Now I have an answer. Because I can fly! 

46 minutes ago, David Wang said:

Now I have an answer. Because I can fly! 

Yes and flying is fun.

This reminds me of when I leased a Cessna 172 to keep our small Nova Scotia drop zone jumping. I had just spent the morning in the pilot's seat - flying jumpers to altitude - when the manifest lady asked me if I wanted to take a break and do something "fun" like skydive. I replied that I was having too much fun in the pilot's seat and would cheerfully fly most of the afternoon.

“But I don't think I am addicted to adrenaline tho”

TOTAL DENIAL…..