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