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Fear of Flying
Introduction
While I am a relatively self –driven, courageous and risk taking individual, I have always had the fear of flying. I understand that everyone has an innate fear of one thing or another. My fear of flying is based on an unpleasant experience I had as a kid. I was an extremely playful child in which case I could climb so many places even to dangerous heights. My face used to shine on seeing the admiration that other kids showed as they cheered me on to climb higher. However, this was short-lived as at one time, I climbed a relatively short tree to get some fruits for my new friend. Unfortunately, fate was not on my side. I stepped on a weak branch and came hurtling down. Luckily, I escaped with a few scratches, but I was never to regain my confidence again. The fear increased after I lost a dear friend in a plane crash in the Middle East. This pushed the lesson home; never go to heights from which you cannot climb down in a few steps, unless you have no option.
This fear has always prevented me from taking journeys that involve flying, in which case my means of transport is limited to trains, cars and boats, except in cases where I cannot help it. This explains why I have only visited my parents in Middle East twice in the seven years that I have spent in the United States. Even in those cases, I have had to consume some liquor so as to down my fears.
However, my turning point came last summer. I was an intern in a non-governmental organization when I was sent on an assignment that required boarding a plane. This was an extremely crucial assignment and was bound to have a tremendous impact on my curriculum vitae. In addition, it presented an opportunity for growth in my future career. Unfortunately, it involved flying, which was one of the things that I not only hated but presented an insurmountable challenge. For a moment, I thought that I should decline the offer. What would happen in case the plane encounters unfavorable weather? What if it is hijacked by terrorists or even blown away into smithereens?
Unfortunately, I needed a pleasant rating and would not have desired to crash my chances of getting one. In essence, I chose to go ahead and board the plane. I had spent the previous night rolling on my bed for lack of sleep, thanks to the cruel thoughts on my mind. I must admit that the four hours in the air were some of the longest in my life. I cannot explain how fast I moved out of the plane once it landed at the airport. Looking back into the incident, I decided to research on the frequency with which planes crash or are hijacked. I realized that there were fewer plane crashes than car accidents. In fact, car accidents occur 16 times more frequently than car accidents. This was a tremendous breakthrough for me as I realized that my fears were based on ignorance rather than intellect. Of course, there is always a possibility or likelihood that something will go wrong and lead to a plane crash. However, this should not keep one from carrying on his duties. I realized that fear can be extremely limiting and can even hinder an individual from attaining his potential and reaching his goals in life. In addition, I determined that the best cure for fear of anything is to go through that thing, of course, after carrying out all the precautionary measures.
