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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Fear of Flying!


Catching the Bus!



If you suffer the fear of flying nothing that I am going to say is likely to cure you. We have all shared the story of something that was not supposed to happen with Air France flight 447. The Airbus is a very robust aircraft that was simply thought impossible to be brought down by simple weather. In a sense it’s almost like a replay of the Titanic.

It was made even more dramatic by the fact that the flight had vanished hours before the public became aware of the tragedy. At Paris they were being told that its arrival was delayed. How horrible for them to then discover the awful truth in little instalments.

So if you are someone who has a fear of flying, all of these events have done nothing to ease your fears. In fact, I suspect that a lot of confident people are badly shaken. Professionals who coach people into a state of being at ease about flying do a wonderful job, principally because they talk all around the topic without cutting to the chase. I am going to take a different course and be blunt. Being blunt is how I deal with the uncertainty, and it does work for me as well as it might.

Life is one gigantic gamble. There are no real guarantees. Companies that give them, and governments that make them find that their guarantees dissolve the minute that they do. Life is about risk with the only certainty being that we live, and then we will die. In the meantime there are plenty of times when we must trust our very lives to others.

When we require a medical operation we trust that the operating team will get it right and that we will survive. Such a chance can be thrust upon us as a matter of life or death. It’s all about the risk to reward equation. We may be silly to take the risk of dying under sedation for something minor or selective.

Another time in our lives when we place our lives in the care of a stranger is when we hail a taxi, or take a bus, or simply ride with a friend. Control of the vehicle is in the hands of someone else, and our lives depend upon their skill and judgement. However, I am unaware of something called Fear of Travelling by bus or train or friend. But, there could be classes for people affected by such situations.

In some countries, a simple trip out to the market might be the last thing that you do as there are suicide bombers about. Even going to church could be where your life will end. At least with regard to flying, security measures are quite stringent to keep that form of travelling fairly safe.

When you drive or ride your own vehicle you run the risk of doing something silly yourself that ends in a collision that takes your life, or just being on the road opens you up to the risk of actions by others.

So, the bottom line is this: it is natural to want to live and to avoid situations that place our lives in peril, but the simple fact is that it is not possible to avoid all such risk. There are people who do not leave their own hometown because they won’t fly, yet they are at even greater risk in the everyday things that they do. When it is my time to die, I will die. I might be in an airplane, or on a ship, a bus, in my car or in my bed, but I will come to the end. The only question is whether I die alone or together with a bunch of strangers. I’m not suggesting that I will be happy about it, or even stoic.
What I will not do is die more than once. I am concerned for people who die a small death every time they take a risk. They must suffer such terrible stress over something they cannot totally avoid. My philosophy is to do the opposite and to live life to the full until the day that my life comes to an abrupt halt. Then that will be that.

I don’t save anything for a special occasion; I use the special dishes and cutlery; there’s not too much in my savings account; I own two cars and a motorcycle; and I live each day as though it were my last.

By-the-way, if it’s of any comfort, travel by regularly scheduled aircraft is still the safest method of all. Now, if only they could do something about all the other things that make airline travel such a pain in the ass.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael