Sometimes You Need to Get Excited

Yesterday, I did a thing. I have been a glider pilot for thirty years, however, I have not been flying gliders recently. It’s part of my job, albeit not a core activity. I flew a glider again. It was pretty awesome. My performance was not awesome. It was good, it was safe, but it wasn’t as good as I like to perform. With effort it will get better.

What is much more important, I was really excited. Flying gliders is a rather unique aviation experience. It is very freeing and fun. I rode that wave of happiness all evening.

We get busy in life and always have a lot to worry about. Often everyone is solving problems and getting things headed in the right direction. That being said, everyone should find things to do that get them excited. Everyone should find a reason to smile. Everyone should chase some endorphins.

You often hear about self-care and mental wellness. The fact that we are discussing this more openly and often is great. Knowing that we need to take care of ourselves is a huge step forward. There was a time when you pushed the bad things deep down and buried them. We do this less than we used to. However, we often don’t know what to do to take care of ourselves. I find one of the key ideas is to get excited. 

When we get excited about things, time moves better and we have something to look forward to. When you can look forward to something, it gives you more purpose. If you have purpose, you know where to go, and knowing where to go, you should have less stress and anxiety.

As I was flying along, I was working harder than I used to to fly the glider well but I was smiling a lot. It was a special moment. I feel like I was accomplishing something I wanted to do. I felt my body relax.

Life is hard, sometimes you need to get excited about something.