Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 56

Remember

Back When...

W

inter is a good time to think back on the past year
and meditate on the lessons you have learned. Or,
since time flies by so fast, we may choose to look
back over a number of years and make an assessment of the then-and-now. If we don’t do so from time to
time, it’s easy to forget just where we came from, and how
far we’ve grown in many areas . . . our flying skills, our
interaction with other pilots, our inner person, and so on.
We also have the opportunity to take a look outside ourselves and see the progress made by others in our intimate
group of friends who share the same passions as we do.
This topic is of interest to me because now that I have
become snowbound in my mountain town, I have undertaken
the abovementioned tasks and have found enjoyment in the
process. Thus, I share them with you and encourage you to
do the same, hopefully resulting in the same satisfaction and
maybe even some lessening of the “winter blues.”
One of my decisions made from meditations on the
past is to be more understanding and patient toward those
perceived to be on the lower rungs of the ladder of learning,
and even toward those assumed to be much more advanced
than I. From time to time I’ve found myself a bit impatient
at some pilots on launch who seemed to take forever laying
out, organizing their lines, and then standing there waiting
for what I considered an excessive amount of time through
multiple cycles. Some of the pilots were people that I knew
were much more experienced and seasoned than I was, further fueling the fire of exasperation. To my credit, however, I
didn’t just leave it at that. Trying to understand, I spoke with
some friends of the pilots in these circumstances, and gained
some insight into why things weren’t going according to my
conceived plans. In one instance, a pilot wasn’t feeling too
well physically, and blew four attempts to launch at a comp.
In another instance, a pilot was enduring some stress from
some family matters that were weighing heavily on his mind
and affecting his performance. These were certainly productive conversations that helped create some empathy for what
others may be going through at any g