I almost let fear ruin a memory I’ll now keep forever.
I wanted to share this here in case it helps even one person.
I recently flew to Paris because I surprised my girlfriend with a vacation, and if I’m being honest, I was terrified before the trip.
Not just “a little nervous” I was genuinely stressed. For days before the flight, I kept imagining every bad scenario possible. My mind was running through everything that could go wrong. I couldn’t sleep properly because of it, and for about 5 days straight I kept telling everyone around me how stressed I was about flying.
But somewhere in the middle of all that overthinking, I had a realization that honestly changed everything for me.
I realized how privileged I actually am to even have this “problem.”
Being stressed about getting on a plane to go to Paris is, in many ways, a luxury problem. There are so many people in this world who would give absolutely anything to be in that position to be healthy enough, financially able enough, or lucky enough to even have the opportunity to travel somewhere beautiful with someone they love.
And at the same time, so many people are fighting battles that are far more serious than a fear of flying.
That thought really opened my mind.
It made me realize that sometimes the fear becomes much bigger in our head than the reality ever is.
Because the truth is once I actually got on the plane, and we were up in the sky cruising, I smiled.
And for the first time, I felt relaxed.
Not only that, but by the time we were flying back home, I was actually looking forward to getting on the plane again. I couldn’t wait to sit down, take off, and cruise above the clouds. We even had a decent bit of turbulence on the way back, and I was completely fine.
I stopped seeing the flight as something to survive, and started seeing it as something to be grateful for.
And honestly, this whole experience taught me something bigger than just “don’t be scared of flying.”
It taught me that I need to appreciate more of what I’ve already accomplished in life, instead of letting fear ruin experiences I once dreamed of having.
So if anyone here is overthinking, panicking, or playing out worst-case scenarios in their head like I was I get it. I really do.
But maybe the fear is just noise.
And maybe one day, the thing you’re scared of right now will become the thing you’re smiling about at 35,000 feet.