Falling

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“It’s not the load that breaks you, it’s the way you carry it.”

-LLIC 2006

I absolutely hate roller coasters.

I find nothing appealing about being flung to the ground as rapidly as possible. It’s not thrilling, it’s not fun, it’s a terrifying experience that I simply can’t stand. It’s the same with getting water up my nose; I don’t like swimming and generally try to stay out of water (or at least cling tightly to my lifejacket) so that I don’t suck in water and think that I’m drowning.

I know I’m not going to die in both instances. Regardless, I hate the sensations, avoid the experiences and stay away from roller coasters and going under water. I panic pretty bad when either happens.

For those unaware, I’m taking pilot lessons. I want to become a pilot so that I can more regularly visit my friends in Michigan and St. Louis and travel a bit more freely. Airlines are getting on my nerves and a few extra dollars means I can fly whenever I want wherever I want without worrying about airline schedules and destination limitations.

Yesterday, we (my instructor and I) spent the entire lesson doing nothing but emergency landings. It has gotten to the point to where he is intentionally putting me under stress during the procedure to test me and see what I will do. There were some cockpit, um, “theatrics” that took place to intentionally try to get to me. No emergency happens during cool, calm and collected conditions; if something is wrong, any passengers I might have will probably be panicking, trying to grab controls they shouldn’t be grabbing and screaming. At the end of the day, no matter what is happening next to me, I still have the responsibility to get a plane on the ground if there is something wrong.

An example: After pretending the engine failed, the first thing I have to do is get the airplane’s airspeed up. With no engine, there is only one way to get the velocity of the plane up: You have to go down. When you are going down, the nose of the plane is pointing down. When the nose of the plane is pointing down… gee, that’s a bit like a roller coaster, isn’t it?

My first reaction is to pull up, so that’s what I do. My instructor pushes the stick back. I pull harder, he pushes harder. He yells, I yell. I scream, he screams back. This isn’t going well.

Eventually, we get back in the sky and he demonstrates what happens if he lets me do what I was doing out of a panic and not paying attention to air speed. We climb and he simulates the engine failure a safe distance high. The plane slows. He pulls the stick and the plane doesn’t climb; it simply slows the fall down. I’m still falling. I can’t tell I’m still falling because I’m looking at the sky, but I’m still falling. So, I think we’re good and we’re not good at all. We’re losing altitude fast and I can’t even tell because I’m looking up, not down. I literally have no idea I’m falling out of the sky!

Life presents all of us with loads that we have to carry. It is incredibly easy to stick with instinct and default to what we THINK will work, when in reality what happens is that we slowly lead ourselves to our own demise. At some point in time, it is necessary to check ourselves and make sure what we are doing really makes sense. This is where a good teacher, coach, friend of family member comes in. When the only perspective you have is your own, you may not even realize that the way you are carrying your loads is hurting, not helping, you.

In this journey called life, make sure you have a good co-pilot.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!