When the Outrageous Becomes the Norm

“Hey, check this out. It’s called paragliding,” said my boyfriend Nick, referring to the YouTube video currently playing on his laptop screen.

“Whoa” was all I could manage to reply as I took in the sight of a person dangling from a small, parachute-like structure gliding through the sky hundreds of feet above rocky, sun-soaked mountain terrain.

I couldn’t believe people actually did this.

Fast forward a few years later…

There I was, standing near the peak of a Costa Rican mountain, feeling the gentle breeze on my face that indicated thermic, rising air was currently making its way up the slope to create ideal conditions for a mid-morning flight.

“Launching!” I called out to my instructor who replied back with a reminder on proper technique.

“Okay, Adrianne! Now, lean forward on the belly strap and run, run, run. Run, run, run!”

Whenever I meet someone new it’s always fun to share that I paraglide. That’s typically the thing that they find the most interesting about me.

I get it.

The idea that I could become someone who willingly flings their body from mountains and steep ocean cliffs in order to soar hundreds of feet over the ground used to sound completely outrageous to me.

And yet, it’s now the norm for Nick and I to plan our weekends around what the wind is doing and where we might be able to catch the best flight.

I can’t help but wonder…

• What other cool thing that currently sounds too outrageous, incredible or unlikely to me right now might actually be on its way to becoming my new normal?

• If I can become something as outrageous as a paraglider pilot... surely, there must be no limit on what else I could be, do or have?

Definitely questions worth pondering.

And, I bet I’m not alone in this. I’m sure you too have aspects of current reality that at one time felt like total fantasy but have now become “just the norm.”

And so, here’s my invitation for us:

Let’s use these experiences as our permission slip to believe.

Let’s take the leap of faith and claim our current set of big, bold, “impossible” dreams as surely also on their way to becoming the new norm.

Here’s to letting what once blew our minds become the version of ourselves that manifests down the line ;)

Love and Magic,

Adrianne

Flying my paraglider off into the sunset in Costa Rica :)