Facing our challenges

Photo: My American friend, Anne Marie, at our Dabbler exhibition, Stirling University, with a photo from our gliding days.


 
Thanks to…
I owe a special thank you to Anne Marie. We were both members of the same gliding club, Portmoak near Scotlandwell ( Scottish Gliding Union)  and it is partly due to her that I hold an international gliding certificate—the coveted Silver C.

To earn this certificate, it was necessary to complete a cross-country flight of 50 kilometres, a five hour duration flight and a height gain of 1,000 metres ( over 3,000ft).

Facing Fears and Achieving the Silver C
I still lacked the cross country flight. For months  I was reluctant to leave the security of the airfield always finding an excuse that the conditions were not right “too windy” .” wrong wind direction” “not enough thermals” etc.
 

One day, the conditions were perfect. Yet I still hesitated. Anne Marie, already in possession of her Silver C, ordered me without hesitation into the cockpit and urged me to “get the job done.”

Her determination was clear and unwavering. The fear of facing Anne Marie ‘s wrath and condemnation if I chickened out became greater than my anxiety about landing in unknown territory. I launched and headed  towards a wave system over the Ochill Hills and, after a successful flight, landed safely in a very small field, near the village of Buchlyvie,18 miles north of Glasgow.

Reflection
Sometimes, we all need that extra push in life to help us overcome our fears and achieve our goals.