How I Overcome My Fear Of Flying
Sitting rather uncomfortably in my seat while facing the painfully bright light piercing from the window, I fidgeted nervously, desperately trying to ignore the gloominess of the situation. I attempted to focus on staying warm in the bitterly frigid row, but as thoughts of certain death ran through my mind, the world appeared a treasured place. I clenched my stomach as I became nauseous, imagining my near death, I went through each detail and possibility inside my head. Numerous people in society suffer from a variety of fears. Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is among the most common or in my situation, aviophobia, which is often referred to as the fear of flying.
I am terrified of flying. Of course, it's not really a fear of being in a high place. Rather, the endless possibilities that can occur flying 7 miles high as well as the physical manifestation of taking off and landing. Similar to other fears, aviophobia is a fear that people decide either to live with or conquer. A victory over this fear would produce a surplus of pride as well as an optimal vacation.
I became unbearingly impatient. I had prepared for this for a week, yet the thought of waiting five more minutes seemed impossible. I was comforted in the company of my family, all of whom were expert flyers who told me not to be scared. Although their words were wise, they were words I blatantly disregarded. Muttering prayers to herself, my mom had already started to “rest” her eyes. My brother, glued to the window, repeatedly peered to his right, trying to catch a glimpse outside of all the other planes. I seemed to be only one panicking as I sealed my eyes shut and clenched the armrests. Time seemed to pass by like the sand through an hourglass as the plane slowly encroached the runway. As we accelerated to over 140 miles per hour, I gently get pushed back in my seat and gradually saw the ground move away through the window.
The smell of jet fuel and automobile exhaust combined to assault my senses as I drag my suitcase out of car, making my way inside the airport. As my flight was delayed, I sat in those horrible uncomfortable blue chairs anticipating my flight and glanced upon people of all ages scurrying through the airport fearful of missing their flight. I began to gain confidence in myself as I saw these little children running about and thought to myself, “If they can do it, why can’t I?”. My confidence started to snowball up until I heard the attendant call out, “Now boarding zone D”. Remaining beside my family, I walked awkwardly down the long gate to the planes entrance and pondered if it was time to turn around and go home.
The 737 tilted slightly to the left and began a slow and steady turn. Down below, the ground looked like square plots on a huge map of some kind. Gradually, everything began to come into view. As we neared the ground, small cars heading down the highways came into view, as well as the various colored homes of different sizes and shapes. A sudden bump told us the landing gear was released as a woman jumped slightly at the sound. Landing felt tricky compared to takeoff as the plane comes down in steps and I experienced this weird feeling in my stomach everytime the plane lowered. It was similar to going over a bridge in a car every five minutes. Besides unnerving landing, I felt like I had gotten the hang of it. Feeling my ears pop, I opened my mouth in an attempt to release the pressure. Trees and rooftops whizzed by as the aircraft made its final turn onto the waiting runway and ended with a mild rumbling as the tires kissed the tarmac. A loud rush of air pressure to the brakes slowly brought the plane to a gradual stop, culminating into the final act of taxiing slowly into the arrival gate.
Flying was not so bad after all. It felt exactly like driving a car, except that it was thousands of feet above land of course. Although I had many chances to back out of the opportunity, I still convoked up the courage to confront my fear. As I am not fearless, I take solace in the fact that I no longer fear what I always deemed impossible. I took in a deep breath and glanced out the window to find my treasured world I had so dearly left behind.
