"Keep Swinging"

I recently attended a leadership conference where the theme focused on Challenges and Perseverance.  I wasn't sure what to expect but I was really grateful I was able to attend.  Ed Hearn, a former major league baseball player that won a world series with the New York Mets, had his career cut short by injury.  Later, he faced life threatening health issues and has since received three kidney transplants.  His message was simple: life will throw you curves but you need to stay in the batter's box and keep swinging.

It's really easy to identify challenges in your life.  It's not so easy to count your blessings, especially when you're going through some tough times.  So is there a secret to living a happier and healthier life?  Heck no!  The answer lies within you.  The only thing you can control in life is the way you react to it.

So why am I writing this blog if I'm not going to promote any secret to success?  Because it's a message that should be shared and is relevant to our aviation industry right now.  If you step out of the batter's box you will never ever get a hit.  But, if you step up to the plate and take a few swings...who knows?  You may just hit one out of the park.

Never stop swinging.  Don't give up, especially on yourself.  If you have a passion in life, pursue it relentlessly, even in the face of adversity.

This past month has been a tough one for aviation and aerospace.  We lost three good doctors in a plane crash outside of Chicago.  We lost more good people when a plane crashed into a building in Wichita.  And we lost another when SpaceShip Two crashed in California.  This last event was followed by stories in the media that questioned the safety of flight and the pursuit of space travel.

If you choose to live, then you accept risk because there is no way to eliminate it completely.  If you choose a career in an industry that you are passionate about, then adversity cannot become an obstacle but a building block.  From each others mistakes, tragedies and setbacks, we learn new things about our machines, processes and most importantly...ourselves.

As an individual how do you respond to adversity?  As a collective whole, how do we respond?  It's not in our nature to give up.  We are an optimistic nation, even if we need to remind ourselves of that from time to time. We keep swinging.

When I heard of the recent rocket explosion and then the questions of Virgin Galactic's space pursuits, I had to go back and re-read President Kennedy's speech when he challenged us to go to the moon.

I've heard this speech before, as I am sure many of you have.  But it's still relevant and timely.  Our energies and skills are measured by our ability to achieve goals.  We have a willingness to accept challenges (risk) in order to accomplish goals.  And we do these things because we're not just optimistic but very competitive.  We like to be first.  We like to be best.  We can be neither if we aren't willing to step into that batter's box.

To this day people still ask me why I fly.  I can never give a good answer that satisfies their curiosity, especially when their perspective is one from concern.  "Flying is so dangerous", they say.  But if I were to let those challenges and fears overwhelm the positive benefits I receive from flying, I would never leave my house.  Instead, I choose to live.  I choose to fly.  I choose to step into that batter's box knowing full well there are times I'm going to swing and miss.  Heck, I may even get hit by a pitch.  But you know what?  I'm willing to take my lumps, and first base.  I'm not going to step away.  I'm going to keep swinging and I know our industry will continue to do the same.