One biographer writes that Amelia had ongoing issues with her sinuses and that flying always made her feel worse. She goes on to say that she was always quite sick after a long flight. It isn't something that others have claimed, although it could well be true. Is it important? What if the thing you love to do most, makes you feel horrible? Would you keep on doing it? I think the answer for many of us is yes. My husband blew out his knee playing basketball. He'd come home and ice it down and go back the next day. I've played myself and I hate to admit it, but basketball is addictive. You can't get enough of it. It's that kind of game, the intensity, the way you can lose yourself so completely in the competitive and physical aspects, and of course the skill set you need to be good at it. All are compelling. We're only human after all, and by human I mean that we want this feeling of exhilaration, it's what makes us feel alive. So what is a little physical discomfort compared to the exhilaration of flying, the thrill of breaking records, breaking barriers.
I say hats off to Amelia and to the rest of us who have chosen to fight through the pain and get to the pleasure, or as she wrote, the ones of us who've lived fully, who have chosen to do whatever we've chosen to do for "the fun of it."
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I salute also people with physical disabilities who've been gutsy and persistent enough to find ways of fulfilling their desire to fly. Normally it takes 2 hands and 2 feet to handle one yoke, one throttle, and 2 rudder pedals; but there are ways to modify the controls. And one gal who was born without arms, and who uses her feet as hands, simply did her training in a type of plane that doesn't require the use of rudder pedals, thus freeing up her feet for the yoke and throttle. You go, girl!
ReplyDeleteReally? Pretty amazing. The things I complain about and then I think about how ridiculous and petty my daily complaints are.
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