So what’s changed?

Good question from RTH over lunch today. He’d picked me up straight from a flying lesson, complete with solo circuit at the end. I was full of my usual Tigger-like* enthusiasm that usually accompanies me doing the near-impossible.

Once again we were discussing the fact that a year ago , no one (especially not me) could have envisioned that I’d be flying a plane. So he asked the above question, “What has changed? How come you can do this now?” Was it the fact that I was happier at work? At home? In our new country?

 I honestly can’t give a straight answer. I can never understand myself what finally convinced me to start this process. I can tell you though, that it is self-feeding. The more I achieve, no matter how small, the more I feel I can do.

 I still maintain that the spins lesson was the major turning point. I can never describe the sheer level of doom, dread and terror that accompanied the long walk and ferry ride to that lesson.  I’m sufficiently embarrassed by the method I used to talk myself into that plane that I’m not going to blog about it (just think of the embarrassing stuff I have blogged about , that should give you an idea of how hard that is for me to say.)

 Of course all this new found confidence has its price. I still have stuff in life that freaks me out but RTH is a lot less patient about it now. For example I don’t like ladders (I feel I lack the physical coordination to successfully tackle them), we were at an observatory last night, grabbing a peek at Jupiter through a 74inch telescope. This necessitates climbing a set of ladder steps. I was less than enthusiastic about the process. I was considering not attempting it. RTH’s take on it was “For God’s sake woman, you just flew a plane, get your arse up that ladder!”

Meh, he may have a point!

 

* I do tend to be a bit exuberant on return from a lesson. Normally I have the walk home to calm me down a bit!