hey its mark again - mark o.

[mwo75]

i know there is another one in this forum so maybe i should just refer to myself as mark o. in these threads. Anyway, it has been a couple of days since i have looked on here. i guess this question is to anyone really - do you feel/have you felt ashamed because of this fear? You may have answered it already in your testimonials so if you have i am sorry. I guess i do feel ashamed because it seems like alot of people just do not have a problem with this. I don't think anyone understands what its like to have this fear. its crippling at times. It seems like this fear will either make you or break you - like you're less of a person for being scared of this. Well one more thing before i go - my mother(herself a flight avoider) wished me a happy b-day today and told me that I should make a list of all the things i should accomplish by the time I am 31. and one of those things was to take a plane ride. And my thoughts were first - nausea. then i thought let me handle this. i want to get thru this but i don't want to be pushed. this probably is the one fear that gets me the most in life and i want to handle it my way. Stubborn? Maybe.
I also feel guilty that this is small potatoes compared to what others face.

mark

[Passenger Mark]

Hey Mark... This is me Mark! :rolling:

Yep... we have a bunch of us on here.

Stpete Mark keeps calling me "P Mark", which causes me to seek the restroom!

Anyways... Shame for having Fear of Flying...

Yep... I did, and it caused me to not seek the help I was looking for.

Now I am very bold about it. I will tell anyone. If they don't like it, or think I am a coward... then that is their short-sighted, ignorant, self-centered problem!

Most people, I would say 98% are very understanding and supportive. Especially those in the airline industry. The most understanding are pilots. They seem to take it on as a personal challenge to share the beauty of flight, and show the positives.

Sometimes, rarely, (twice in over 30 flights) I have come across a rookie gate agent that will look at me, and give me that up and down look, and say "YOU have a fear of flying" I respond by saying "YEA... IS THERE A PROBLEM?" That usually ends that. If not, I will call for their supervisor. T

EVERYONE has something going on that is a barrier in their life. I do not care how confident they look, there is something. It is how they handled that barrier that separates the mature from the immature!

DO NOT let shame block your path to obtaining your goal. You have nothing to be ashamed of. This is a real situation, just like anything else. Set you sights on your goal, and do not let anything get in your way!

[chicken]

Nope. Can't say ashamed of it. I say it .......I AM AFRAID TO FLY..... that is that. No need to be ashamed of how you feel.

[kallieb]

Shame, shouldn't. Why...because to get on a flight when you are so scared because you think/feel/believe that you will die is a sign of remarkable courage.

Being couragous is not shameful.

I heard a wonderful saying...the difference between a coward and a hero is one step sideways.

We are heros because we strive to not step sideways.

[mkahanek]

No. Can't say I was ashamed of it. I freely admitted my fear of flying and if someone gave me %%%% about it. I told them to kiss my arse. That is about the end of it.

[aerobat]

I will say that I was very ashamed of my fear, and because of that, I kept it a secret, and because of that secrecy, I had no idea for decades how much help other people could give.

I now know that a phobia is no more cause for shame than any other accidental mishap that is not one's fault. A phobia doesn't develop because we are weak or stupid or reckless or cowardly; it happens because of circumstance or a combination of predisposition and circumstance.

The predisposition--when it exists--isn't our fault either. We are the gazelles who startle quickest, run the fastest and get away from the lions unto the umpteenth generation, even after there are no more lions.

What's really awkward is that "normal" people seem to be able to fly without a second thought, and in relation to them, we feel smaller, lesser, and perhaps less deserving. We do not have to buy into that BS. There are fifty ways to opt out.

The heroic script we write for ourselves when we begin to face our fear is in no way diminished by the fact that flying is something most people take for granted. The process of finding courage is a special adventure which only the fortunate can experience.

When I hated to fly, I once made a list of all my friends, relatives, and others I knew who were unafraid of flying (or so I assumed). I added to that list until there were a hundred names on it. Of course, I never talked to any of them about this. But when I finally got to work and started owning up to my fear and talking to people...I discovered that many of those people on that list--one in three--also had a fear of flying.

It's not small potatoes.

[chicken]

Well said!!!!:happyguy: :happyguy: :happyguy: :happyguy: