As I jumped from the plane into free fall, plummeting toward earth, everything became clear. Our perspective is directly proportional to the heights we’ve climbed and the lows we’ve embraced as teachers.
Have I been skydiving? Yeah. It changed me.
Except that’s a lie.
Perfecting the Performance
I’ve never actually been skydiving. But I’ve lied about it since freshman year of high school. I told that lie so many times I almost believed it was true.
I studied everything about it. Read accounts from actual jumpers. Watched videos. Researched the psychological effects. All because free fall fascinated me. And because I wanted my lie to be flawless.
You Become What You Pretend
We become the lies we live. That’s exactly what I was doing: pretending to live an adventurous life by making it look good on paper. Never actually challenging myself to make it real.
If I ever told you I’d been skydiving, I lied. I’m embarrassed. I’m sorry for not being truthful.
The Problem with Fake It Till You Make It
I learned the “fake it till you make it” approach early. You don’t have to be successful to act successful. But there’s a dangerous line in how we interpret this.
Faking it doesn’t mean lying about having a big house or your dream job. That’s the opposite of what successful people do. Real “faking it” means embodying the character of who you want to become before the external results show up.
Lying disrupts this entirely.
Lies Block the Flow
Here’s what I discovered: by claiming I’d already done something, my natural motivation to actually do it disappeared. The universal flow got interrupted. Energy that could have gone toward living the dream went toward protecting the lie instead.
When you lie, you’re not receiving. You’re guarding. And that shuts off the natural synchronicities that would have guided you the whole way.
The Power of Being New
When I think about how many opportunities have come from my honest innocence, I can’t understand why I ever thought lying would help. People love to help you, especially when it’s your first time doing something. They want to be part of your beginning because they remember how meaningful their own was.
What the Lie Revealed
What lies are you telling? What do they reveal about what you actually want? Can you release them and start living your truth?
My skydiving lie taught me something real. What I wanted wasn’t the accomplishment. I wanted life to feel like an adventure. For each day to carry the excitement of free fall. To face my fears and laugh.
That’s the truth I want to live now. Who wants to jump out of a plane?
This is shadow work in action.
If you’re ready to process what’s been running your life, explore the Shadow Work practices.