13: Flying Through the Transitions of Life with Paragliding Instructor Danielle Kinch
Summary: “Life Transitions are scary but everything in life worth fighting for is difficult and you have to go thru the pain and the heartache to get to the other side again. It’s all the trial and tribulations in life that help you to figure out who you are.” - Danielle Kinch The Bucket List Life Podcast Episode #13 - Paragliding Instructor Danielle Kinch On the road of life, with all of the peaks and valleys, twists and turns it can be challenging to navigate on our journey alone. The important thing to remember is that we each have our own individual path and that no one’s road is flat or straight. Throughout all transitions in life, those that find their way after having been lost would almost all agree that some of the most traumatizing events that happen in our lives are the best things that happen in our lives. Today’s guest on lucky number 13 of The Bucket List Life Podcast is an adventurous, courageous and powerful female force of nature. She has been paragliding for the past 7 years and has travelled to 15 plus countries with the sport. With over 2,000 successful flights in her life and reaching the podium in competition, she now teaches 100’s of students as an Instructor at Torrey Pines Gliderport Flight School in La Jolla, California. She is a business savvy feminine tomboy that has lots to share about overcoming the curve balls of life. Highlights from their podcast conversation: 6:00 Danielle talks about growing up as a physical, courageous and typical tomboy and how she also embraces her femininity and can flip the switch from a rough and dirty paragliding instructor to a lady in only moments in the gliderport washroom. 9:00 Danielle says that people are her passion and although she went to school for sociology, Kenyon and her both agree that the airport is the best possible place to people watch and study people from all walks of life in their full dynamics of the human emotions. 10:45 Danielle’s life plan out of university was to get married and have children. With the family support and encouragement, being a mom was the only thing that she knew that she wanted in life. She married the man of her dreams and after that her marriage fell apart, her dreams and aspirations quickly disintegrated. Her new life plan? “Oh shit!” “To walk away from someone you love, from every depth of your soul, is the most challenging and hardest thing for me to do personally. But just because you can love someone to those depths, doesn’t mean that it’s healthy or self-serving.” 16:45 Kenyon acknowledges this scary place of being in between life plans. When you think you know the road you are on and find yourself not only on the wrong road, but lost. A lot of people really fear this place. Danielle acknowledges that “it was scary but everything in life worth fighting for is difficult and you have to go through the pain and the heartache to get to the other side again. It’s all the trial and tribulations in life that help you to figure out who you are.” 17:30 Danielle clarifies how paragliding had been a hobby and a passion of hers before she met her husband, but it’s not until after her divorce that she thought about turning her passion in to a career. 19:00 In trying to figure out her new life plan, Danielle realized the importance of not putting all her eggs in one basket and having a Plan B. She spent a year as a student, learning to instruct in paragliding, and also completed her Yoga Instructor Certification. 28:00 Danielle explains the importance of site analysis and a self analysis before a flight and how it plays a role in our decision making process. Taking a step outside of yourself and being able to take a look at a situation analytically, whether it’s before a flight or in life, isn’t easy for everyone. Being able to analyze all aspects of the spectrum, takes a lot of practice but it’s an important aspect in avoiding potential hazards and fatal complacency.
