Last week I got back to my flying lessons, after a summer hiatus. In the pre-flight briefing my instructor, Mathew, asked me to review the procedure for ascending and descending in the aircraft, as that was what I had learned in my last lesson back in June. After looking at him blankly for a moment or two, Mathew realized there would be no answer forthcoming. He graciously gave me the answer and added that the average person forgets 90% of what they learn if they don’t use it within 10 days. I got the hint. Sometimes you gotta preach to the preacher!!
Despite my less-than-stellar briefing, we got on the plane and took off. It was a beautiful sunny day, with a few wispy clouds overhead. We climbed to our cruising altitude of 4,000 feet where I would take over the controls and work on turns. As soon as we levelled off and I took over, the turbulence started. We were bounced around like shoes in a dryer. I asked him why there was so much turbulence when it was an otherwise sunny day, and he said something about trapped heat in the ground, air currents and clouds. It’s not that I wasn’t paying attention, but I was distracted by trying not to crash and get us killed. Whether it was the white knuckles, or the sweat pouring off my brow, Mathew sensed that this wasn’t going well. So, he said, “let’s get above the clouds, and you will find the turbulence stops”. We climbed to 7,000 feet, levelled off, and sure enough everything settled down.
Here are some simple life lessons I learned from that first experience back:
- Even the sunniest days can contain hidden challenges.
- Even the sunniest people can be experiencing turbulence you may know nothing about.
- You can’t always solve a problem by staying in it and riding it out.
- When others are intent on shaking you up, rise above!!
- Perspective is everything. Change your perspective you can change your reality.
- If you have a co-pilot in life, lean on them in difficult times. They may have wisdom you never considered.
- Breathe!! Every situation is temporary,
- An aircraft is stronger than it looks. So are you.
In the biblical book of Ephesians, we find these words in chapter 3, “Trust in God, trust in yourself, and know that you have what it takes to rise above unfair circumstances and overcome the storms of life.” Those are empowering words. The truth is, when we launch into the day, we don’t always know what might be hiding in otherwise blue skies. Faith doesn’t promise us a smooth flight, but it does equip us with a perspective to rise above the challenges and keep flying.
And one more thing, I forgot how spectacular the view from the heavens above Barrie can be. No turbulence can ever take that away.
