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For most people, flying is one of the thing they enjoy the most. But that is not the case for everybody. And I once belonged to the latter category. I feared flying so much. I was so height-phobic and as such dreaded taking a flight. The thought of it sent goosebumps all over my body.
However, the inevitable came when I had to travel outside my country for my masters. That meant I had to fly. My goodness! I remember laying awake most part of one night thinking how I was going to do it. And when my itinerary came, I had about three connecting flights to take. Pheeew!
Anyway, the day of my travel finally came. This was the first time ever I was going to take a flight in my whole life, and it was a night flight, with the first flight of about 6hours and 30minutes. My goodness! “How on earth was I going to be up there for that long?” I thought to myself. Anyway, aboard the flight I fastened my seatbelt as instructed and stayed glued to my seat for the rest of the flight. I didn’t bulge an inch. I saw other passengers loosen their seatbelts and walking freely up and down the aisle, but not me.
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I remember being so pressed and needed to empty my bladder but no way, I had to endure. And what about sleep? Oh. I couldn’t dare to sleep. I fought it so hard. I didn’t dare to blink an eye. Hmm! How relieved I was when the first flight landed. But two more flights to go. Finally, after two connecting flights, how glad I was when I arrived my destination, Leeds.
And to ensure I overcame my fear of flying, I made sure I flew a couple more times while in Europe.
I remember during one of my missions trip to Romania, I and my team were hosted by a couple. The man doesn’t speak English, not even the slightest one. But the wife was fluent in English, and she was our interpreter. I was curious at the gap between them in their English language skills, and I asked why it was so. The woman said she has travelled a couple of times out of Romania which has helped to improve her English fluency, and that she often visits her daughter in the U.S so she uses that opportunity to polish her English. But the man said he has never travelled out of Romania. The reason being that he’s afraid to enter an aeroplane.
His daughter has invited him to the U.S a couple of times but he’s bluntly refused to go. He’s so flight-phobic he said he’ll never take any trip that requires him to fly till he will die. Hahaha! Funny ho! Yea. But he’s not the only one plagued with such phobia.
So next time you have a phobia for anything, take the bold step to do that thing again and again, and before long you’ll get over that fear.
Thanks for taking your time to share in my journey. You could do well by sharing how you overcame any phobia you once had, it might help someone else reading it.