What I learned from an indoor skydiving trip

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go indoor skydiving at iFly in Kansas City as part of our quarterly team building. It's wild what 100mph wind can do.

When you stand at the entrance to the tunnel, you literally just trust fall into the wind and you start flying like you're the magic carpet in Aladdin.

I had a great time, plus I learned some things:

Small movement = big effects in high volume wind

I got to fly twice for 1 minute each time, which doesn't sound like much, but it's a workout to keep your body in a full Superman posture to stay aloft. Keeping an open stance provides the greatest surface area for the wind to push you up and keep you there. The wind speed is calibrated to your body weight, and if you start curling up, you'll start falling.

During my second round, the guy who operates the wind tunnel signaled for me to rotate hands and use them like a rudder. I started spinning round and around—subtle movements make a huge impact in that space.

My shoulder keeps surprising me in spite of injury

Before our trip, I had to sign one of those waivers that says if you get injured or die you won't sue the place. You are strongly discouraged from flying if you have any sort of shoulder injury. I have a minor labrum tear in my right shoulder, so I was pretty sure that I'd be warming the bench on this one. As we walked in, I told my big boss, "I'm not sure if I can do this one," and I told him about my injury.

"How long ago did you do that?"

"A couple years."

"You'll be fine—it's like swimming."

I've been swimming recently, so I figured it couldn't be that bad. Also, my big boss is not a reckless dude, and I trust his perspective.

I decided to go for it, and now I'm glad I did. Having lived with this injury for a few years, I have a sense of how hard I can push it, and every time I push just a bit farther, I'm reminded that it's more of a head thing than a musculoskeletal thing. Not allowing anxiety to rule over my decision that day enabled me to enjoy a unique experience (and create some cool memories).

I abhor taking my wedding band off

While getting suited up, the instructor/safety guy told us we had to take off all jewelry.

"I have a silicone wedding ring—that too?"

"You can leave it on, but you might not see it again."

I have worn the same silicone ring since Jordyn and I took our second anniversary trip to Cloudland Canyon in Chattanooga, TN—nine years ago. I never take it off, and it was super weird to have to take it off. I felt naked. There are many silicone wedding rings, but this one is mine, and it symbolizes so much. I wanted to get it back on as quickly as possible after flying.

New context can open new connection

The point of these days is doing something out of the ordinary and actually getting to know the people you're working with. I had about 5 hours of windshield time with my boss and another one of my colleagues on the way there, and we got to talk about things that we simply don't have time for during a regular workday: favorite books, how we all share a connections to a 90s model Buick LeSabre, and more. New context makes room for new conversations, which builds a stronger team.

It's easy to get sucked into the grind of work and just focus on the bottom line. But days like this remind us that there's more to work than just the work itself—it's the people that matter most.