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  • Gerald Washington shared a letter in the Group logo of Magical MomentsMagical Moments group 5 months, 2 weeks ago

    Flight Fear

    Dear Unsealers,

    November of 2006 was an exciting time in my life. I was 17 at the time and I was going to live in Maryland with my oldest sister. Plus, it would be my first time flying in an airplane, so my excitement was sky-high around the time.

    On the day of my flight from San Antonio, Texas to Maryland, a phone call woke me up at 4 in the morning. It was my sister. I remember she asked me if I was excited to come live with her. I could barely answer still trying to get my thoughts together. ”Huh,” she replied. Afterward, I gave a better answer to her before our phone call ended.

    Two hours later, I was at the airport. Going through security to get to the right gate for my first flight was an adventure for me. When it was time to get on my first plane, I couldn’t wait to get up in the air.

    When my first flight started to take off, the excitement I had turned to fear. The more the plane speed increased, the worse my nerves got. When the plane got up in the air, the anxiety I was feeling had taken complete control of my body.

    The realization of being in the air instead of being on the ground had really sunk in my head. Seeing lightning in the window nearby, only increased my out-of-control fear. ”I’m not gonna make it through this flight”, I thought.

    The older woman who was sitting beside me in the window seat must have felt the fear I was feeling. She started talking to me. She was so calm like she had been through this takeoff routine a million times!

    Her calmness gave me the courage & strength to get through this takeoff. The nerves I felt would disappear, and the plane would finally coast around blue skies & beautiful clouds, way up in the air. I couldn’t believe I was flying on an airplane.

    I still get nervous when I fly on a plane, but I know now that those nerves I feel are only temporary until the plane relaxes in the air. I’m grateful for that woman who was on my first flight. She showed me an example of calm courage that I’ll never forget.

    Gerald

    Gerald

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    • Gerald, I totally get where you are coming from. It’s pretty hard to put your trust in a thing that lifts you up higher than you usually expect it to. Especially when you are so used to being on the ground. I get nervous when I’m high on a ride or sometimes past my limits of height. I usually say that I’m not scared of heights in just scared of falling. So what I do in that situation is try not to fall. Now I’m used to the heights.

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      • Very true, Kayjah. I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from. I get nervous to when I get on rides that are too high for me to handle. That’s why I don’t do very high roller coasters anymore. It’s too much for me. I like your idea of saying you’re not afraid of heights, you’re just scared of falling. I need to try that the next time I fly on a plane again.

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