How About That For A Leap Of Faith?

For English speaking people, the name ‘Felix Baumgartner’ sounds a little quirky, which fits quite nicely with why his name will be remembered for a very long time.

Millions of astonished TV viewers around the world watched as the 43 year old Austrian thrillseeker took a huge leap of faith to plummet over 39,000 meters (128,000 feet) from his helium balloon above the Earth.

This was no random act of attention-seeking frivolity, however.

In making the jump, Felix became the first human being to break the 768 miles per hour sound barrier in freefall.

In fact he reached a top speed of 1,340 km per hour (833 mph).

“If something goes wrong, the only thing that might help you is God. The only thing that you hear is yourself breathing.”

said Felix before making the world record jump.

The risks don’t even bear thinking about. Had Felix’s specially designed $235,000 pressure suit failed in the stratosphere, his blood would have boiled.

Had it failed during freefall, his heart would have stopped and his eyeballs would have burst.

The bottom line is that failure would almost certainly have meant death.

The obvious question people asked Felix was “Why did you do it?”

“For the same reason people climbed Mount Everest.”

This record breaking leap of faith also provided vital scientific research as mankind continues the quest to explore life opportunities beyond Earth.

Baumgartner was covered in monitors that will provide invaluable information for scientists and spacecraft designers, who need safe escape options for passengers in the future, about the effects on the human body.

It did not escape my attention that Red Bull sponsored the Stratos capsule from which Felix jumped. They are making a habit of supporting adventure sports and are a great example of how companies can align their effective marketing with missions that advance humanity.

I don’t get the impression that this will swell Felix’s head too much though, as he made this wonderful comment:

“Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.”

It makes you think though doesn’t it.

If Felix Baumgartner can take a leap of faith like that, with those kind of potential risks, where in your life might you risk taking a teeny bit bigger leap of faith?

Food for thought!

Have a great day 🙂