“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I love flying airplanes. One of my uncles took me flying in his private plane when I was 6 or 7 years old and I can still see the way the ground looked from up high, and this more than 40 years later. The entire experience was wonderful.

When I was 18, I considered joining the Air Force to get my wings, but I worn glasses, then as now, and I was told that I could not fly jets with glasses. This made me sad. My father had flown for the Army Air Corp in World War II and I had hoped to follow in his footsteps – it was not meant to be. I would need to wait awhile longer for my “magic carpet”.

When my headhunting company started to make serious money in the very early 1990s, I was finally able to pursue my dream of flying and it has been a part of my life ever since. I was able to fulfill another of my flying dreams this last week when a close friend and I attended the largest airshow in the world – the annual EAA AirVenture Show is Oshkosh, Wisconsin. What a hoot! All of my fantasy airplanes gathered in one spot and I could go inside them and talk to the pilots! It was a dream come true.

There were so many delightful experiences at the airshow, but a few really stick out. I was able to go inside a Beech D18 – an airplane that has fascinated me for years. I was able to take a flight over Oshkosh in a Ford Trimotor from the 1930s. I was able to walk inside a B24 – the plane that my father flew for 50 missions over hostile territory to win the right to go home to the United States and to my mother. I finally did get to walk in his shoes – at least a little bit. Some photos of these events follow.

I went to this event for fun. I also went looking for additional motivation – more reasons to take that extra step – more reasons to read that next book – more reasons to work a little smarter and a little harder, and I found that motivation. I am more excited about my future now than I have been in a long time. So, what about you? What have you done lately to re-energize yourself and connect to the passion and power in your dreams? If it has been awhile then go ahead – find something that excites you and spend some time experiencing your dreams as though they are real – it is well worth it and you have my permission and blessing!

“The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn’t it be? – it is the same the angels breathe.” ~Mark Twain, “Roughing It”