Rate: 833.9 miles per hour. When youâre freefalling at this speed, youâre only thinking about one thingâthe desire to live.
The lead-up to this moment had been a lifetime of bold decisions and redefining risk at every turn. However, none of that mattered now. The radio was silent as the spin became more violent. This silence was deafening.
At 128,000 feet, everything is precarious. During an uncontrolled spin, there are only a few possible outcomes. One, blood rushes to the limbs and rids the brain of oxygen. A total blackout results. Unconsciously spinning in space. The alternative is too much blood rushing to the headâand then the pressure inside the skull builds like the pressure in a beer can thatâs been left in the freezer for too long. Eventually your blood has only one way outâyour eyeballs.
No good. When youâre spinning uncontrollably for 67 seconds, it feels like an eternity. Alone, every second is your life flashing right before your eyes.
Felix Baumgartner is still here to tell his storyâand he regained control in time to accomplish one of the biggest feats in the history of human free fall.
Was it risky? It depends on who you ask.
The Dream of a Lifetime
Just 67 seconds earlier, Felix had been standing on the edge of a custom-made space capsule. Decked out in a handmade spacesuit adorned with the Red Bull logo, the whole world was watchingâincluding his girlfriend, a mother who couldnât bear to watch, and a close circle of friends, all waiting for him 24 miles down. He was about to embark on a lifelong dreamâflying. Literally. Ever since he was a little boy, Felix had dreamed of flying. That dream had led to his being known as one of the most accomplished daredevils and stuntmen in history. But this was different.
The training had been the most grueling challenge of Felixâs life. Several mishaps, technical issues, a nearly fatal training mistake, and a total anxiety shutdown were part of the story. But something was pushing Felix to take this leap. Something within him was guiding him through the dark moments and the sleepless nights.
It would have been easy to rest on his laurels and the YouTube highlights of doing the impossible. He was already a living legend, with nothing to prove. Yet something was pulling at him, and he couldnât afford not to listen.
That day at 12:06 p.m. Felix took the leap of his life with the entire world watching.
You Have a Quest to Take, Too
I know what youâre thinking: you have no plans to jump out of a space capsule and break the speed of sound anytime soon. Youâre not a daredevil, BASE jumper, or extreme sport athlete. Iâm not either, and Iâll stick to my two, run-of-the-mill skydiving experiences for now. They were fun, even if the pilot did look like a knockoff version of the guitarist from Metallica and made way too many âthis is my first dayâ jokes.
However, you have a lot more in common with Felix than you think: thereâs a quest youâve been waiting to take. And every day that passes without you taking it is another chance youâll wind up thinking about what could have been.
I donât want that for you, but most importantlyâyou donât want that for you. Youâre here to take the quest, the ride of a lifetime. And your leap is the catalyst to light that quest on fire and write the life story you canât wait to experience. The life you look forward to coming back to after a vacation, because the thrill of living it exceeds the fantasy of escaping.
This is exactly where I found myself on a frosty New Yearâs Eve night when everything changed.
December 31, 2014â10:36 p.m. New York, New York
Iâm sitting at a big table in a Manhattan restaurant, surrounded by friends and the sounds of clinking glasses and belly laughter. Itâs New Yearâs Eve and the energy is palpable, with busboys gunning in and out at exactly the right time so as not to knock into the waitress whoâs taking one too many orders.
Iâm seated at the table, but Iâm not there. Something is missing. Iâve felt this way for a little while now, and I donât know what to do. Itâs easy to admit youâre lost when things arenât working. But what about when people think they are? Iâve had trouble waking up over the past 14 days. For the first time since high school, all I want to do is stay in bed when morning comes around.
The drinks start coming, and Iâm on the hook for a ribeye. Bone-in, flown in from Nebraskaâor so they sayâfor a cool $57. I excuse myself, although Iâm not sure that any words come out of my mouth.
I find myself walking. Itâs 13 degrees out, and Iâm supposed to be in the bathroom and rejoining the dinner table soon. Except that Iâm headed in the opposite direction. I feel the burn of the cold on my face and the windchill in my bones. I donât know where Iâm going, yet I know exactly where Iâm going. I need space. I need to find myself.
Desperately.
I walk until I find an open patch of landâsomething that looks like an old football fieldâand instantly Iâm drawn to it. Maybe I simply want to relive the glory days that didnât happen, but I walk into the field. And without thinking, Iâm now sprinting for my life with everything Iâve gotâMichael Kors pants and shirt included. I repeat the cycle of walking and sprinting a few times, not thinking about who may be witnessing this: it is New York, after all.
Once Iâve expended every ounce of energy, I take a seat. And thatâs when I lose itâthe flood of tears come rushing out of me. I canât stop. I feel alone. I feel tired. I feel di...
