If there is one thing that I have learned in life, it is how fast it passes. If there was one thing I could pass on to younger people as a lesson learned, it is that when you are young it feels like you have all the time in the world when you are looking forward at life. Then, when you have more years behind you than you do ahead, you wonder how it could have gone so fast.
Whatever you want to do in life, whether you plan to find a cure for cancer, make Peace in the Middle East, invent a practical solar powered car, or maybe just enjoy life without any grand scheme; you should realize that time is a precious and limited asset and not waste it.
I can clearly see things I did and thought as a kid and over the years, and I look back and some of it is almost like yesterday. It is especially true of people that have gone, and the ones gone too soon.
As for living, I think you don't ever regret the good and kind things you do for others, especially those who deserve it.
As for flying, as you get older, it is more routine, but one can still appreciate it. I have flown for over 30 years. I don't find reflexes much different now than then, flying isn't like ski racing. I do find my vision is not quite as good, it is 20-20 now, but when I started it was 20-10 which means I could see at 20 feet what was normal to see at only 10. I know that excellent vision was a help. What I can do now better is the planning, the overall big picture of the flight environment and the judgement. As for weather in particular I know a lot more about how to gather reports, forecasts and how to evaluate it. The WSI weather service that many FBO s have on their computers is a big help over what we had when we started years ago. it is a visual presentation now whereas then it was only verbal or text.
Last edited by
Bill Greenwood on Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.