You Pack Your Own Chute
When I was 12 years old, my family lived in Fairbanks, Alaska and my dad was a professor at the University of Alaska. Every weekend he would bring home a movie projector from his office along with 8 mm movie reels of various movies he could check out from the campus library.
I realize most people have no clue what I am talking about so I have inserted a picture to give you an idea of an 8 mm movie projector.
We didn't have a television at that time, and so this was our family's entertainment during the long winters. One of the movies my father brought home was called, "You Pack Your Own Chute." It was a documentary of a lady who decided that in order to become a stronger person, she needed to overcome her fear of heights, and learning how to skydive would be the way to do it. During her lessons on how to skydive, the instructor told her that most skydivers packed their own chutes so they were confident that it was safe and secure. They didn't rely on someone else for their safety, they actively took part in making sure the jump would be successful.
That stuck with me all these years, I needed to be the person who took care of me, not wait around and expect someone else to do it for me. The other part of the movie that stuck with me was her telling about when she learned to drive. One day while her grandfather accompanied her on a drive, another driver cut in front of her as she approached a stop sign, nearly causing an accident. She exclaimed that the other driver made her so mad. In turn, her grandfather asked her if she was allowing someone else to control her emotions. I remember it so clearly, "So you are letting that guy determine how you feel? You are letting him control you?"
No one else can make us feel an emotion, we chose to allow another's actions determine how we feel. We are always in charge of our own reaction to another's actions.
It is amazing how after 40 years, a movie can still affect the way I believe in myself. Nearly every day my mind goes back to that movie, and I repeat to myself, I pack my own chute. This reminds me constantly that despite what external triggers may happen, I still determine what I can accomplish.
This hasn't been an easy road, I am the first to admit there are times when I have forgotten to believe in myself, but I am hoping through the sharing of my life and my life experiences, I can help you believe in yourself, especially during the rough patches in life. You are in charge of how you feel, no matter all the ugly that life can throw at you.
When life feels like it is spiraling out of control, remember, You Pack Your Own Chute!
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AND BE ANYTHING!
Write it on your mirror so it is the first thing you see every morning and the last thing you see each night.
I realize most people have no clue what I am talking about so I have inserted a picture to give you an idea of an 8 mm movie projector.
That stuck with me all these years, I needed to be the person who took care of me, not wait around and expect someone else to do it for me. The other part of the movie that stuck with me was her telling about when she learned to drive. One day while her grandfather accompanied her on a drive, another driver cut in front of her as she approached a stop sign, nearly causing an accident. She exclaimed that the other driver made her so mad. In turn, her grandfather asked her if she was allowing someone else to control her emotions. I remember it so clearly, "So you are letting that guy determine how you feel? You are letting him control you?"
No one else can make us feel an emotion, we chose to allow another's actions determine how we feel. We are always in charge of our own reaction to another's actions.
It is amazing how after 40 years, a movie can still affect the way I believe in myself. Nearly every day my mind goes back to that movie, and I repeat to myself, I pack my own chute. This reminds me constantly that despite what external triggers may happen, I still determine what I can accomplish.
This hasn't been an easy road, I am the first to admit there are times when I have forgotten to believe in myself, but I am hoping through the sharing of my life and my life experiences, I can help you believe in yourself, especially during the rough patches in life. You are in charge of how you feel, no matter all the ugly that life can throw at you.
When life feels like it is spiraling out of control, remember, You Pack Your Own Chute!
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AND BE ANYTHING!
Write it on your mirror so it is the first thing you see every morning and the last thing you see each night.
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