Flight.
So I finally got to fly. After 3 rescheduled appointments due to weather and sudden scheduling conflicts, I finally got to take the discovery flight I wrote about a few weeks back. And as I expected, I was really nervous, but I had a great time. For me, this flight was really about one simple question, one powerful moment.
Could I break through the fear and find peace in the midst of terror.
I didn’t always get nervous when flying. I used to love it, but a flight out of Los Angeles going unto London changed all that in 1996. We hit some pretty brutal turbulence going over Denver, and for one brief hour I honestly thought I was going to die in a plane crash.
That hour is still seared into my memory, especially the moment where I think I saw a flight attendant cross herself as she sat down.
And so my fear of flying was born, and I figured it would be with me forever.
But about four years ago, I began to feel this indescribable pull towards flight. I have spent so many hours learning about it, understanding it, and desiring it.
As I learned more, my fears have been reduced but not eliminated, because anytime you leave the ground there is a risk that is always there. But you can’t run from your fears; you either face them and overcome them, or you allow them to control your life.
Which my fears have done, for far too long.
In 2017 I decided to face part of my fear, and go skydiving. It was an incredible experience; one that I’m probably going to repeat in a month or so. And last Friday, I went further into my fear than I have ever done, and actually piloted a small plane.
Yes, there was a ‘real pilot’ sitting right next to me, helping me when I needed it, but I was there, in that tiny plane, with my hands and feet on the controls.
And for most of the flight, I was really, really scared.
But there was one moment, cruising at around 7,900 feet, where I felt that moment of peace that I was hoping would be there. A feeling of being at one with the world, and at peace with my life. I don’t get many of those. I found one while Skydiving, and I found one last Friday.
It didn’t last long, just a few minutes until we began our descent, but for those few glorious minutes, I felt an intense feeling of gratitude and love for everything in the world.
It is true that the greatest blessings in the world are on the other side of fear.
Because once you break through fear, that energy that you put into fear is transformed into courage. Then you take that courage, and you do something else that scares you.
And then you do something else, and something else, and something else. You keep going until you have gone beyond the fears of the everyday, and find the truth of who you are in the courage that you carry with you.
Imagine what you could do, and what you could accomplish, if you had cast off your fears and were truly able to live as who you are. Imagine the changes you could make in the world.
Imagine the joy you could find in your life.
And imagine the peace you could feel in your heart.
Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings