“I've suffered a lot in my life, But I now understand how beautiful it is that we can be part of nature. I've learned that you never know what the story of the person you're talking about or talking with is...”
Citizens of the planet he calls us as he introduces the earth as our house. And as I view him as a hero… I know the title is one he would shrug away from. But I’ll throw it anyway, and leave it for you to make the final call.
Thomas Kozlowski is his name, and after spending almost two hours ingesting his story and love for humanity, I feel it best to simply turn the stage to him.
“Our task is just to care about others, you know… Just like you care about your child or you care about your friends or you care about yourself. So if we are one… we are oneness. I skydive for people and, you know, to save lives. I cannot imagine anything better.
Of course, it’s not easy. It’s really difficult because people say I’m crazy, and a lot of people criticize me that I don’t care about my family. That I have to stay alive and have a stable job. All that kind of stuff. But I think if someone is telling you that I’m behaving like a kid because I want my dreams to come true, I tell them my dream:
My dream is just to make people happy. And also, that we respect each other.”
He explains his views on happiness and even suggests his big why.
“I was in the Communistic Army. It was compulsory. It was a very important moment in my life because then I had the chance to realize that someone can be pushed down by a system—by someone who got higher than you. I now understand what freedom means.
You can be CEO or the lowest person in the structure, but there is no reason for you to not be respected. You can be stronger than you than me. But I am not weaker than you.
I’ve suffered a lot in my life, But I now understand how beautiful it is that we can be part of nature. I’ve learned that you never know what the story of the person you’re talking about or talking with is. Everyone is battling cycles of the head and the inside of life. I’ve got this in my mind that every one of us carries our own cross like Jesus Christ was wearing. And every one of us has heavy stuff. And that’s what I’m looking for. But it’s okay that this person is happy. It’s like when you say we all have the time to be happy, it doesn’t means that nothing is wrong. So this is where I think it’s not that happiness is being all happy all the time. I’m happy when I’m jumping, and it’s just for me. Of course, the most important for me is the happiness of my family and a good future for my kids.
Happiness? Yeah, It’s peace of mind. And if you want to be happy, there must be a reason. So it means that in life, or to God, or wherever will give us that reason, we all can find a reason to be happy. And if we’re feeling bad or depressed, we can still find our happiness. But you know, I would never be able to do my project without the suffering I’ve been through, and without understanding what it means.
It’s no matter if you’ve suffered because of the lack of a roof over your head, or depression, or I don’t know—and I don’t want people to suffer—I want people to be happy Why not?”
I ask more about his why for doing Jump For The Planet.
“We are not identifying with the planet. We identify with our home, with the fencing around our home, with our neighborhood, and maybe the city, or the country. But that’s the worse thing we can do with ourselves. That’s when we build the borders.”
“We are not identifying with the planet. We identify with our home, with the fencing around our home, with our neighborhood, and maybe the city, or the country. But that’s the worse thing we can do with ourselves. That’s when we build the borders.
When you think about skydiving as a metaphor for life and cooperating with nature in the freefall, that’s when you know you are in control. You can feel every move and every breath of oxygen. And if you’ve got the experience, you know the best solution is to do and not seek. Then your freefall is very, very stable—and you see how tough you are.”
He tells me about his book.
“I called the book, “The Story of a Thousand Fears” because I was so afraid when I did the highest jump in Europe with my friends.
It was really important in my life because I realized it’s okay to be afraid. So I tell everyone, don’t be afraid to be afraid. It’s just human nature, and I know on the other side of the fears is where you find the best things in your life—and because I was afraid of skydiving, too, it makes me know when I’m going into a plane with someone I tandem with, that I’m blessed to have the opportunity to jump with someone for their first time. It’s amazing to take someone on this journey and show them how strong they are. To show how beautiful this Earth is. I feel a kind of calmness.’
“We can create a new generation that cares about the planet. We have to. Or the other choice, we ruin the planet. Because it’s not that we are giving the Earth to the other generation, we are borrowing it.”
Thomas, when you look at the stars at night, what do you see? I ask.
“You know, it’s just a matter of perspective. And I think we’ve got the problems we have because we have no access to the bigger perspective. And it’s not only the philosophical perspective, it’s also the physical perspective.
This is our home. I mean, this rock floating in space is our house. You know, we’ve got cracks in the walls and its roof is on fire. And we just don’t care about this. We’re saying it’s okay that the fire is in the bedroom and we’re staying in the living room so everything is fine. But, oh no, it’s not fine. And, this is why I jump for the planet—because we are on the only planet we have.
Everything is here. So from this perspective, we are just one organism. In my opinion, our life on this planet is part of the organism— and it is all a living creature.
So, when I’m watching up there in the sky at night, I’m looking for some deep meaning of our being here because it’s this life that is such a beautiful thing—why I wish to know that there is a reason we came here.
I want us to understand we are just a small part of this nature. That this is a small planet Earth. And that’s why I’m jumping for the planet. So, this is my reason to be here as we all hang onto this small rock. And this is not my idea.”
Not my idea, Thomas delicately hints. And after spending only a few hours in his presence, I am convinced he desires no glory. For in his concern for our world, and as he shares the details of his history with me, he suggests a power far beyond the mortal beings we are, and in that responsibility, he concludes by looking at the future to come.
“We can create a new generation that cares about the planet. We have to. Or the other choice, we ruin the planet. Because it’s not that we are giving the Earth to the other generation, we are borrowing it.”
Thomas, I know you will fight me as I refer to you as a hero. You are way too caring and gracious to accept. But you need to know that in the heart of this blogger, today you are mine. And to all of us, please support his efforts at www.jumpfortheplanet.com.
Oh, and one last note. We are not done getting to know today’s stranger-now-friend, Thomas. In the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing a podcast to share more of his light.
Talk soon, my good friends!
With warmth and gratitude,
Richard
