The Skydiver and the Cowboy

The Skydiver and the Cowboy

I once heard and never forgot a story about a skydiver who landed safely as part of a public exhibition. As soon as he landed, a cowboy rode his horse out onto the field to give him a ride to the stage. But the skydiver shrank back in obvious horror and absolutely refused to get on the horse!

We are surprised in this story by the idea that a person brave enough to skydive would be panic stricken at the idea of getting near a horse. We seem to think that if one is brave enough to do something we might be afraid to do that that person is just a brave person and would be brave in all or most circumstances.

I think there’s a lesson or several to be learned by this story. My first thought is that we learn not to fear the things that we are exposed to that are a part of our everyday lives. We become comfortable and gain confidence as we deal with and even master those things in our environment, especially in activities that we are drawn to. But we often fear those things that have never been part of our experience. Perhaps the skydiver grew up surrounded by family and friends who were skydivers.

So that brings us to a lesson! Maybe the conclusion I just drew is valid in general but has nothing at all to do with this story! I know that I am way too quick to jump to conclusions. We don’t know WHY the skydiver was afraid of the horse! Maybe he DID grow up around them. Maybe he had a very bad experience with them, or someone he loves, or loved, did. Maybe he really is brave about most everything else, and it is his experience that makes him afraid of horses. And maybe the cowboy would be just as horrified by a suggestion that he jump out of an airplane. Or maybe he’s bored with the horse scene and really would love to go skydiving!

So what’s the real lesson here? I think it’s that we are way too quick to jump to conclusions about the motivations behind the behavior of others. We could avoid a lot of speed bumps in our lives if we could learn not to jump to conclusions, especially when it comes to why people behave the way they do, or say the things they say.

We often think that someone else’s behavior has much more to do with us than it does. It’s so best not to take personal affront or write someone out of our lives. Give everyone else breathing room – the benefit of the doubt -- before we take offense or pass judgement on someone else’s behavior. And pray that others will do the same for us! Judge not, less ye be judged!