question_answer 12)

Doing well in any activity, for example a sport, music, dance or painting, riding a motorcycle or a car, involves a great deal of struggle. Most of us are very nervous to begin with until gradually we overcome our fears and perform well. Write an essay of about five paragraphs recounting such an experience. Try to recollect minute details of what caused the fear, your feelings, the encouragement you got from others or the criticism. You could begin with the last sentence of the essay you have just read: "At last I felt released—free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear."  

Answer:

At last I felt released—free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear. Over time, I got over a paralysing fear of flying to actually enjoy the experience.   My first flight was in 1999, when myJamily and I travelled to Egypt. I don't remember much about the flight, but for the fact that I hated it. I didn't fly again until 2003, and since then I've made over 15 flights of varying lengths. My most recent flight was over nine hours, and it was the most relaxed travel experience I've had in a long time.   It was a common problem—I had nightmares about planes crashing that often led to me waking up in a cold sweat. My rationale told me that there is a much larger chance of being killed in a car accident, but the fear of being killed on a flight seems to be much greater. It might be because plane crashes are always given a high media profile, or because they're often much larger than a road accident. I think the main fear comes from the lack of control people have when they're flying.   I used a technique I learnt from lucid dreaming, called a 'reality check'. The idea is that whenever you perform a common action, you consciously ask yourself if you're dreaming. So, every time I saw a plane, I would perform a reality check. This enabled me to change the outcome to something more pleasant. It takes practice and discipline, but this really helped with the bad dreams.               I made a conscious effort to stop myself whenever those thoughts came up, and to think about a more peaceful situation. For example, I changed these visions so that instead of the plane plummeting into the ground, it would crash land and everyone would make off it unharmed. Instead of seeing myself paralysed with terror, I transformed the image of myself into someone calm who offered help to the other passengers. It sounds simple, but it made a big difference to my general attitude about flying.   To put my mind at ease, I looked around to learn about the safety checks that are performed, and how safe various airliners are. These pieces of information made a huge impact, because they appealed to the logical side of my brain. Flying is safe. I've found that getting a window seat makes the flight much more enjoyable. Some of the views can be absolutely breathtaking, especially around takeoff and landing. Take some time to reflect on how amazing it is, and it will help you relax.