One year ago today, Derek took a flying lesson in a helicopter. I wrote a happy post about it at the time because it was exhilarating with spectacular views of the Lake Erie shoreline. But there was something about it that I left out.
Derek recently confessed that he really didn’t like it. He didn’t like being a pilot and he didn’t like the way the real pilot from St. Thomas airport made the chopper ascend at the last second as we approached a stand of trees. He was grateful for my birthday gift, but it didn’t live up to the anticipation. And that’s quite alright. In fact, it’s the point of trying something like flying a helicopter. You don’t know until you do it whether it’s for you.
There’s an old saying about the grass not being greener on the other side of the fence. People think someone who owns their own business has it made but they don’t see the regular sixteen-hour days that go into it. There are all sorts of things we daydream about, assuming they’re the key to happiness when that key is actually in our own hands. I’m glad he tried the chopper flight and we both learned a lot from it. I got a kick out of watching him at the controls. The outcome didn’t matter as much to me as simply going up for the ride.