The Breezy

I have been loving the TimeHop app on my phone lately. If you're not familiar with it, it's an app that shows you things you've posted on social media exactly a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, etc. So, every morning, I can see my blog posts from each of the past four years, as well as my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts for as far back as they go. It brings back a lot of memories that I'd forgotten about!

Today, I saw that it had been five years since I did something that changed the course of my life. I was TERRIFIED of flying, and because of my phobia, I missed out on a ton of opportunities over the years. Then, five years ago, Jerry, the kids, and I were visiting my brother, Brian, in Minnesota. We went to the hanger where his friend Steve keeps a couple of airplanes--just barbecuing burgers and hanging out. Steve offered to take Jerry and I up in The Breezy, his little open one-engine airplane (if you can even call it that--it was terrifyingly simple for something that is supposed to keep you in the air!).

Here is a pic of my kids on it. There was no way I was going to let them ride it, but Steve took them up on a different plane where my kids weren't as risk of falling out, haha.

Of course, I said absolutely not. There was nothing that was going to get me on that plane! Jerry was excited to go and he had a blast. He took some great pictures and I started to think how awesome those would be for a Facebook profile photo. A few other friends of Steve's that were there went up for rides, and I started to think about whether I could make myself do it. It would shock everyone I knew, for sure. To get me on a regular airplane would have been shocking, but The Breezy? Nobody would believe me!

I was so nervous that I went in the bathroom was actually dry heaving, feeling like I would vomit from the nerves alone. I kept telling myself that it was only five minutes or so of my life--and when would I get an opportunity like this again? I had just worked my ass off to lose over 100 pounds, so certainly I could spend five minutes on an airplane (or so I told myself).

Finally, Steve was ready to put The Breezy away for the evening, unless I wanted to give it a go. I was shaking like a leaf, but I sat down and strapped myself in. I told Steve that if he turned around and saw me crying, it was okay, just continue the flight and get us back on the ground safely ;) I can still remember how dry my mouth was as we started taxiing to the runway.

The plane picked up speed and as soon as I felt the wheels lift off the ground, the strangest thing happened. It was like the fear just immediately evaporated from my body. I've truly never felt anything like it. The view was amazing, and Steve didn't do anything crazy stunts or anything (per my request, of course!). It was a warm summer evening, the sun was starting to set, and it was just gorgeous. I loved it! Here is a video that Brian put together for me; I had no idea he was filming it. 

Those moments on The Breezy changed the course my life--because after that, I realized that I could force myself to do scary things and maybe I would actually like them. Sure enough, two weeks later, I was on a (commercial) airplane heading to Minnesota, where I would run the Ragnar Relay Great River.

I've since flown all over the place: NYC, Miami, Portland, San Diego, the Dominican Republic, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, Phoenix, and probably some I'm forgetting. I've met some amazing people in these places, thanks to my blog, and some of them have become my closest friends. I was able to see my childhood friend Sarah get married in Phoenix, and my brother get married in Minnesota; I was able to surprise my sister for her first half-marathon in Illinois; I was able to spend a week in Punta Cana with my family; I was even a guest on The Dr. Oz Show in NYC! (All of my travel posts can be found here.)

Five years ago, when I sat down on The Breezy, I had no idea that it would be such a life-changing moment. I'm so glad that I faced my fear in the way that I did (it helps that my brother is a pilot, and has some pretty awesome pilot friends!).