Certainty and Uncertainty When Flying

When you fly, you face certainty and uncertainty. Will there be turbulence? If so, how much? You can't be certain. There is one thing you can be certain of. Whatever turbulence there is, the turbulence will not be relevant to the plane.

Consider an interstate highway bridge. The bridge can handle any possible traffic. If the bridge were bumper-to-bumper with trailer trucks, the bridge would handle the load.

Same with the plane. It is built to handle any possible turbulence. Though there is uncertainty about the amount of turbulence on your flight, there is certainty the plane will deal with it.

Maybe turbulence is a challenge for you because you think it is a challenge for the plane. At around the age of three, we are supposed to learn that things can exist in the mind that do not exist in the real world. And visa versa. Did you learn that? Or are you sticking with, "If I can imagine it, it can happen?"

Some things you imagine can happen. Some things you imagine can't happen. You can imagine turbulence the plane can't handle, but that can't happen in the real world.

Terrible things happen in the real world that we can't control. Threats can make it wise to retreat to a safe place. But threats do not justify mental retreat. If we tend to retreat into our own inner world, we probably started doing that when there was turmoil growing up. Some who retreat into an imaginary world become artists, actors, or philosophers.

Being an artist sounds good, but a profession that calls for living in imagination can be a problem. If the ability to tell the difference between the world inside and the world outside gets lost, the inner world is no longer a refuge. When a thought of disaster intrudes into our inner world, if the thought is not recognized as conjecture, or if our imagination of disaster is not recognize as imagination, we believe disaster is happening. We may feel trapped. We may panic.

Becoming trapped in the inner world is a common problem with fearful fliers. In turbulence, the plane moves up and down. The upward and downward movements average out in the real world. But not in the fearful flier's world. When a person tries to keep the real world out, the plane's upward motions do not push their way into awareness. But the downward motions do. Aware only of moving downward, the fearful flier imagines the plane is falling. Imagination of the plane falling is experienced as actually falling. This video explains.

When flying,

• Do you retreat into your own world? Don't retreat.
• Do you hope your flight will be smooth? Don't hope.
• Do you despair that your flight will be miserable? Don't despair.
• Do you fantasize you are someplace else? Don't fantasize.

Come out from where you try so hard to protect yourself and experience flying just as it is. There was a bumper sticker - and a Beatles song - that said "Give Peace A Chance." Give the atmosphere a chance. The atmosphere envelopes you. Give it a chance to hold you. Though you can't see it, it is real. How do you know? You breathe it in and out, almost constantly. The atmosphere supports your life. That is proof you trust it.

If you trust it inside you, trust it outside, too. Your plane does.