proposing paradropping..

A friend of mine just finished a course in para jumping. having now done four successful jumps from a height of 1250 feet above ground level by day and one by night, he is now one of the priveleged few who wear the coveted paratroopers' wings.
I happened to have been with him in those moments before his first jump. I learnt in those few minutes before a human being takes the first leap of faith outside a fully functional aircraft, that his psyche can universally be described as the inside of a food processor at work. Although emotionally overwhelmed, not one single feeling takes charge... The mood swings wildly between a feeling of outright stupidity (why on earth did i do this to myself..) to apprehension (what if..), to indifference ( happens everyday!!) to fear ( will i.. wont i..), the list goes on, and on.. God forbid if the jump gets postponed (or not?) for any reason, a mixture of relief, coupled with an apprehension that the same terrors will have to be faced all over again tomorrow takes over.. Appetites become abysmal and sleep absconds.. The world over.. Regardless of caste, creed ,colour, sex or mental make up, paratroopers around the world have faced the same devils before their first jump, ever since people realised it would be useful to fly ..
The big day arrives , and pale faced rookies line up inside the aircraft, some mumbling prayers, others quenching their fears by outwardly displaying grit teeth, their eyes however, spilling all.. "GREEN ON!!"( horn, light, push) "ONE TWO THREE.. NINE TEN TROOPERS OUT!!! as the instructor bellows over the clamour of great aeroengines and blast of slipstream, the moment of truth arrives, and the small step unto nothing is taken.. hesitatingly by some, confidently by others, and time freezes.
In the next four seconds which feel like eternity, the entrails leap into the first timer's chest, threatening to spill out of the mouth..eyes are clenched shut, mouth set in stone, more from raw terror than as protection against wind blast...A vague realisation dawns in him (something to do with correct body position..) but the limbs, though free of gravity in a free fall, refuse to cooperate , and feel as if immersed in molasses.. And not to forget of course the prayer (dear GAWD! let it WORK just this ONCE!) and the flashback of life, strike ones mind like a sledgehammer.. A heartstopping jerk that lasts forever later, infinity can't possibly describe the courage required to look up and confirm satisfactory parachute opening. Then.. Silence. vast, complete, enveloping, encapsulating silence. After the cacophony of the aeroplane and the windblast during jump, it is almost hurtful..
Like a bolt from the blue, a thought just dawned on me... For those of you who have taken the other leap of hope, and proposed to someone in their life.. Someone who was filling their entire being..Like the smell of water on parched earth fills the senses..Someone for whom you'd wait for hours just for a glimpse.. Someone who'd cause you to smile in the middle of nowhere with imagined conversations..Someone who was in your thoughts every moment of the day.. Someone for facing whom you'd plan for hours what to say, and be left stumped stupid in presence of.. Someone with whom you could have conquered the world and all that lies beyond..
Maybe a parallel can be drawn? The same mustering of guts, same introspective debates between common sense and bravado looped infinitely..Procrastination, and the hope that there'll always be a better time to do it.. The moment of truth..The same heart in mouth feeling, the infinite courage required to look into the other person's eyes, with a hope that could move mountains if it was solid.. And finally the relief that the target was achieved.. Of proposing that is.. Whether the chute opened or not, whether the answer was yes or no, of course, will always remain another story..
What say?