The good people in our lives are GOLD. Value them as highly as is possible.
Show it in your actions… your non-judgment… your support… your challenging them to grow AS LOVE… your commitment to dying laughing at all the ridiculousness we couldn’t be more grateful to go through together.
Yup.
The BEST.
Life is so fun. (Even when it’s not.)
Thank you guys for being a part of the epic people in my world too. I never take for granted the time it takes you to read and follow my stuff. Thank you for being here. Anything I can ever do, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Badass. On that note, enjoy this BSM column, and have an awesome day!
Blue Skies Magazine, Nov 2015
Life Coaching Column #63
Issue #70
“Psychological Warfare”
By Melanie Curtis
Over all my years in skydiving, I have been on a lot of competitive teams. I always have said, “Being on a team is the best thing in skydiving.” And I gotta tell ya, I still feel that way. I remember my very first team experience being on essentially a pick-up team called Capricious and doing one NSL meet at Cross Keys, keying the stardian INSTANTLY out the door basically f*cking going for it before my feet had even cleared the door frame with me at inside center. (This is 4-way FS we’re talking.)
Fast forward and I’ve been on what feels like a zillion teams, all with their own vibe, challenges, and awesomeness. Oh man, I should do a whole freakin’ series on team dynamics using all the stories I have ranging form drop-down-draggin-down screaming matches by the Elsinore pond, all the way to tears and hugs and love in the landing area and on the podium. Yeah, DAMN, that’s some life right there. So f*cking grateful for all of it I can’t stand it.
Monkey Business was one of my most favorite teams in my skydiving career. Why the name Monkey Business? Because nobody wants to get beat by a team called Monkey Business. Psychological warfare, yeah, we don’t f*ck around.
So Monkey Business is still a team, just not in the sense that we know it in the skydiving world. The beauty of Monkey Business is that we began as super f*cking awesome friends… and we ended as even better friends. Teams are clarifying things… they put you in an environment and experience where your sh*t comes out… and you get to work together through all that proverbial sh*t. If you’re with sucky people, that suckiness is magnified in the team environment. Those experiences suck for sure. Like, damn. (Like I said, another column.) When you’re with awesome people, the same experience and challenges solidify your relationships for life.
So if you’re on a team now, my suggestion to you is pretty simple: Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Stress of any kind brings out our less-than-awesome sides… it challenges us… so inside those challenges on your skydiving team or just in life, remember that each stressful moment is an opportunity for you to not freak out and suck, but rather be awesome instead, building your own friendships that will go the legitimate distance.
I’m thinking of this, because I just got to marry Carolyn Chow. Not like, she’s now my wife, but like I got to marry her and her amazing new wife, Lori Hill as the officiant of their wedding ceremony. One of the hugest honors in my life, for real. Carolyn and I were best friends before Monkey Business, and our friendship has included tons of monkey business, but most certainly our friendship was that much deeper after our years on Monkey Business. And at the wedding, Monkey Business was there… Ryan Simpson, Jon MacHarg, Carolyn, me, and JT Gallinaro via modern technology.
That, right there… is love.
And the best Monkey Business there is. Grab your friends, make a team, and go for it. The gift it actually gives is unparalleled in life, and you will only realize that years later. So yeah, do it. Gay is good. Tizzle 2.0, out.
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