Flying through your stress

 Now, if any of you are as afraid of flying as I am, you might be able to relate to this because I see problems in the same light.

I will tell you a little story to prove how terrified I am.

I was once on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town and the weather was not at all great. When we boarded the plane, It was raining quite heavily, but not enough to ground the plane.

With take-off, I was clutching the armrests so tight that my fingers and knuckles were completely white, and I kept taking extra-large breaths every time we hit an air pocket. Now the gentleman sitting next to me obviously pitied me, as when the drinks trolly came around they asked me first what I wanted to drink and I knew at that time that G&T got me hammered pretty quickly. The perfect stranger next to me gave a chuckle and ordered the same and then an extra coke. Once the cabin crew moved on, he said to me: “Here this is actually for you. You seem to need it.” Red-faced I thanked him for his generosity and much to my dismay after I had consumed both double G&T’s. I was quite a bit hammered. Now I do not know if this is true or if it is just a myth, but it sure felt true. Apparently, alcohol consumed at that altitude has double the effect it does on land. It sure felt that way.

When we landed in Cape Town, I had to wait quite a considerable amount of time before I could go and collect my rental car, as I could not pitch up there drunk fetching the vehicle.

And this is where my two cents come in.

The problems are the same as that Joburg, Cape Town flight.

There are always things we ponder every day as we go through our daily routine or whatever. Most of the time the proverbial poop hits the fan and our world tilts on its axes. This is when we do not know what to do with ourselves or the issue at hand.

Now I usually consider myself an intelligent person. Not a genius or anything just intelligent enough not to get the wool pulled over my eyes. But this is something that could even happen to a genius.

I actually thought that I was doop proof, however, at the beginning of this year, I was conned out of all the money in my bank account. The sad thing was that there was nothing I could actually do but I was scurrying to get the problem fixed and ended up with more trouble than it was worth.

Now many years ago, my life would have ended on the spot. Yes, I was quite the drama queen. Temper tantrum 2.0. I could have taught a few 2-year-olds a thing or two. Crying, kicking and screaming, and throwing a proper tantrum. To add to that, it would have never been my fault and everyone else would have been to blame. Angry with everyone and everything in this world being a complete dimwit.

Since then, I decided to adopt my motto: “But did you die?” Things have been a lot better for me. Facing my problems and accepting blame, if it was mine to accept. Then take them one step at a time.

The first thing that you need to do after you have stopped screaming, is "just breathe".

Think about the air hostess in front of the plane showing you the steps to follow in the event of an emergency.

Put the mask over your face and breathe.

Now that you are breathing you can try and calm yourself! Not that easy I know but a very crucial step. Remember my motto. You are not dead yet, so you can still save yourself and anyone you deem important enough if there is anyone that the problem affects.

Buckling up is important for your bumpy ride to get out of your turbulent situation. By this I mean, make sure you have taken any safety precautions you possibly can.

In my case, it was to stop all my cards so that the clever jerk who was just 5% smarter than I was could not steal any more of my money.

Now I had to remind myself that I did not have a parachute on this problematic flight and had to just sit and wait it all out till the end.

As a side note on this, I just cannot understand why people who have a perfectly working plane would want to jump out of it.

Anyhoo. I could also not exit through the emergency exits as the flight was already in motion at full speed and, as I have mentioned before, no parachute, and would have probably ended up answering NO to my motto.

In other words, trying to escape the problem, usually even if it is just for a short while, for example, indulging in alcohol or drugs, etc. ultimately might bring you into an even deeper fee fall. Then when you get back to reality your problem might have even escalated or will just stare you in the face again like it had before.

Sometimes, you are required to leave all your belongings behind and strap on your life vest. No matter what your sinking ship is, you need to ensure that your answer to the motto question is YES! TVs, laptops, and your jewelry are not going to keep you afloat. Evidently, they would probably weigh you down and your answer would change to NO. But getting to the liferaft first would considerably increase your chances of answering YES!

I love electronics as much as the next guy, but broadcasting your problems and failures and telling people, in my case, that I was stupid enough to get caught, also does not improve your situation. Remember, every single member of humanity has an opinion. (Come on think about it. Monkey see monkey do. Everyone else is doing it so why can’t I).  Thus you are likely to be bombarded with many people telling you that it was all your fault and that you are indeed an idiot.

Now I know they say no smoking on the flight, but that does not count when it is coming out of your ears.

You are allowed to be mad or sad. Those are your feelings and one should deal with ones feelings. Smokey ears are important because bottling up these feelings is a really bad idea and could also become explosive.

Find someone you trust to talk to. Not just all the life passengers sitting next to you, but someone you value and who values you back.

Now for especially long problem flights, you can’t just keep sitting on it! You need to move around and get your blood flowing again. Sometimes this helps you think of a possible solution or sometimes it just helps getting advice from a professional.

Imagine sitting on your problem as an egg. An egg you don't know the origin of. When you sit on it too long it might hatch into a dragon and hell’s bells, it could be a fiery end.

Ok, so maybe I have been watching too much GOT, But I think I have made my point.

Just remember that at some point, there will be someone out there who can give you the best advice on bracing for impact. Like on the safety brochure you have in the front pocket of the seat in front of you.

Not all problems should be dealt with alone but it’s up to you to choose the best life vest and professional to help you read the brochure.