When I was flying regularly a couple of decades ago, I remember wanting to become a crop duster. I loved the idea of flying low to the ground, spraying, and then pulling up into a teardrop turn, just to do it all over again. It all seemed so exciting...that is, until I really considered what it is that crop dusters do. Dusting is the epitome of monotony, the "teardrop" being a metaphor for one's emotional state after any significant time on the job. Truthfully, I cannot imagine spending every day making endless swipes across the same ground, spraying toxic chemicals, and getting paid very little money. I'm sure there are crop dusters who passionately love their jobs, but I wouldn't have been one of them.
As a pilot, I liked variety. I wanted to fly low sometimes, fly high at other times, fly over the mountains and then over the valleys, and generally vary things up from moment to moment. In other words, I wanted to spread my wings and soar! I longed for the wide-open skies--the limitlessness of the tumbling mirth and sun-split clouds, (to borrow from John Gillespie Magee). I didn't want to be confined to only 200 feet of altitude above some farmer's field.
Unfortunately, that's how many of us live our lives, isn't it? We exist in confined spaces, going through the same repetitive life-motions over and over again. Consequently, our creativity wanes, and we burn out. The passions in us that were once lit become only smoldering embers of the soul. And then one day we look back and wonder where it all went.
So, my advice is simple: find that thing that makes you soar and go for it. Don't limit yourself to the monotony of the crop; rather, give yourself over to the boundlessness of the blue. Soar! As if on eagle's wings...SOAR!
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