But it is also a legitimate question. How DO YOU top going to the moon? Or any other thing one might do that puts you in 'the best of the best' situation?
It is even like incredibly beautiful women who think their lives are over, become severely depressed, when they lose their looks to age.
The difference between the two situations is that when it comes to not being able to go to the moon or not being allowed to fly anymore, there is someone else to blame. Someone else decided that keeping you from hurting yourself is more important than just about anything else. Someone else decided that expanding civilization to the stars just wasn't that important. And if you're looking for someone else to blame, and someone else objectively qualifies on some level, you can stay stuck for a long time.
And then you can either go into politics, start a revolution, or find something else to do with your life. One way or another, you've got to find a new purpose to keep going.
a fine and enviable madness, this delusion that all questions have answers, and nothing is beyond the reach of a strong left arm.
He's a navy pilot. Has been for 20 years. Been to Miramar... teaching there... went to F16s, which he considered a downgrade... back to Miramar... he's now my age and FORCED into retirement. It is causing havooc in his life. As I knew it would. No prob. He just has not emailed me yet.
Bush Pilot in Alaska. Otherwise this guy will find something before he burns his desk.
Things that most normal folks consider adventure are sleep aids. Things we consider mildly exciting terrifies most people. I honestly believe the wiring is different. Why do the Marines promise less and have no problem meeting quotas.
"All I want is a weeks pay for a day's work" Steve Martin
It doesn't matter if someone else decided that he could or could not fly F14s. The Navy doesn't make F14s so he can get a thrill out of flying them. NASA doesn't send men to the moon so they can have an experience few other humans will ever have. (direct quote from my cuz)
It ends up in the mix, certainly, but it isn't THE driving force. And it doesn't mean that you don't miss it when it's gone.
There is a philosophy (discipline) to being a pilot beyond being up in the air, steering an airplane. Or being an astronaut, or a gold medal olympian. All those things WILL end. The philosophy/discipline will not <-- **IF** you developed it, had it, while doing those things.
That is a thought I have pondered often. After some major life experience, whether it is good or bad, how does one go back to a normal, shall I say "boring" life?
Where I live in the sticks of the Bible belt, HS graduation is a BIG DEAL. I used to wonder why parents and HS students would shell out so much money for photos, class rings, parties, etc. Then it dawned on me one day. For many of them, this is the pinnacle of their life, their crowning acheivement. Few of them go on to college (something like 15% in the state I live in), most of them get factory jobs, marry women they got pregnant (i.e. most of the time are not really much in love), live in trailer homes, etc. It is very pitiable.
I also got a really strong feeling along those lines from watching the Lord of the Rings movies. I know this will sound corny, but those Hobbits had an amazing adventure. There was that series of scenes at the end that were done VERY well IMHO. Sam had managed to find his true love and have kids (a really sweet scene at the end coming home), but Frodo just couldn't shake the feeling that his life was somehow lessened, and NEEDED to get on the white ship with Gandalf. Some of us are like Sam, we can find other things to make our lives worthwhile to ourselves. Others of us are like Frodo, but unfortunately there isn't a white ship to take us to new places and new adventures.
How many of us waste our lives away dreaming about that white ship?
Quote:
will try and convince you why, "no, it isn't like that for me... it's different for me, there is no way you could possibly understand... you just don't get it."
Nearly everyone has something they are passionate about. Nearly everyone has something they long for that they don't have. How well you deal with that longing can directly affect how happy you are.
Chrome
"Recollect me darlin, raise me to your lips, two undernourished egos, four rotating hips"
One thing that has bothered me about military pilots is that they seem to have an entitlement air about them. I’m not talking about their ego, because big egos are every where. I was talking about what Corri mentions with her cuz. He may regret the loss of the adrenaline rush flying at mach speed, but I think he should also remember that he only gets to borrow those planes for a short period of time because they do cost millions of dollars to fly and maintain, and it is us tax payers who foot the humongous bill for that excitement.
I think he should feel privileged for each flight he was allowed to take. I think the “entitlement” and therefore the regret, comes about when the military pilots say they are willing to die for our country. That is true, but that is a choice they made, and that they make each time they re-enlist, in return for a very good lifestyle. I made a choice to be married and have kids and to fight out a living in civilian life. Should I feel entitled to something too?
I guess what I’m saying is that to avoid regret, I think it better to focus on thankfulness for what you had, rather than morn what you are losing. Maybe it is all about ego and humility.
The concept of " being grounded" helps me to land a little easier when I have those elated moments in life. Too grounded, you get stucfk in depression; too "out there" you can get detached from reality and have a hard time getting back.
Well, scuba diving isn't like flying in the literal sense (obviously), but it does tickle many of the same neurons. Having done both, I'd take flying over scuba diving any day, but I still see the parallels on the psychological level.
I think you are putting far too negative a spin on it. I'd say most people who are involved in a grand adventure ... are enjoying that adventure (or struggling through it as the case may be) while it is happening. The end of the adventure can sneak up on you, and you are left with this feeling of loss. I think what you see as entitlement or ego are people who are just stuck in that feeling of loss and trying to convince themselves that they were lucky to have had the opportunity.
I don't understand your connection between entitlement and "willingness to die for the country." I dare say if you were to spend a day in the shoes of a soldier in Iraq, you'd change your tune about "very good lifestyle."
Quote:
I guess what I’m saying is that to avoid regret, I think it better to focus on thankfulness for what you had, rather than mourn what you are losing.
I agree, but that can be hard to do. A lot of the people who have had adventurous lives have had to spend a lot of their lives training and preparing skills to even have that adventure. It is hard to give up once it is over.
Quote:
and it is us tax payers who foot the humongous bill for that excitement.
Are you Republican? LOL You do know that this is the FIRST war in US history that we have NOT had a special tax to support the war effort. Instead we just have a massive budget deficit. Have fun kids.
Chrome
"Recollect me darlin, raise me to your lips, two undernourished egos, four rotating hips"
MrsGGB calls it "the disease", with one of the most recognizable symptoms being a propensity to drop what you are doing and look up in the sky when the unmistakable sound of an airplane engine is overhead.
On Friday cac and I were outside in the driveway and we heard a plane overhead. I looked over at him and watched him swing his head skyward, find the plane in the sky, and then resume what he was doing.
I said to him, "oh, it's that disease that GGB mentioned on the board." And he said, "huh?" And I said, "the one where you stop whatever you're doing to look for the airplane you just heard above you." And he said, "did I just do that?" I said, "yup."
S4 does it all the time, too. I said to cac, "is that a boy thing or a 'got-flying-in-your-blood' thing?" cac replied, "no, it's not just a boy thing. He's probably got the bug too."
I remember the first time S4 flew on a plane (commercial). He was about 11 months old. He was sitting in the window seat looking out the window. I watched him as the plane zoomed down the runway, getting up to speed for takeoff, and then as soon as the plane got into the air, he turned and looked at us with this excited little smile. cac looked at me and I think he just nodded his head as if to say, "yep, that's my boy."
I don't understand your connection between entitlement and "willingness to die for the country." I dare say if you were to spend a day in the shoes of a soldier in Iraq, you'd change your tune about "very good lifestyle."
What I was thinking of was pilots who fly mostly training mission stateside. Those boys in Iraq got handed a raw deal IMO.
I used to be Republican but switched to the Democrats. I don't think my objectives for the role of government has changed, but rather the two parties have switch on some, not all, major positions. Just think of what we could have done within the US with the billions spent so far on this war.
