On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:36:16 -0500, "Ben Smith"
wrote:

I'd
like some feedback and stories if anything like this has ever happened to
you, or someone you know, and what was done to overcome it..


Ben,

I can pretty well relate to your dilemma. I purchased my airplane
with the help of the person I thought I was going to spend my life
with. That didn't work out and the association of her with the
airplane really gave me problems. Flew it for a year, but never had
fun, always worried about something serious going wrong (anxiety), and
was generally dispondent about aviation in general. Knew in the back
of my mind that I didn't want to give it up, but couldn't get
comfortable flying it.

So what did I do? I walked away for a while. I kept it tied down,
would go every three or four months to check for trees falling on it,
etc., and had a couple "ramp mates" committed to telling me if
something happened to it while tied down. I still paid the insurance,
but was completely uninvolved in aviation. This allowed me to do
other things and just get on with my life. There were also other
uncomfortable situations as you describe like work, but it was easier
to handle what I had to do without forcing myself to do what I like to
do. Flying is a very involved activity and you need to be up on your
game to do it well. A 500 mile cross country takes alot more work
than a trip around the patch. The additional mental weight of a long
cross country could definitely cause an anxiety attack.

Anyway....Two years later I woke up one morning with such an urge to
fly it was rediculous! I went and rented my favorite plane at a local
FBO (a J-3). Needless to say it was wonderful! Over the next few
months I worked on getting my plane back to the condition I like to
keep it, and when I thought it was ready went for an annual. Now I'm
back in the saddle, working with a commercial student, flying as much
as I can, and loving it!

Life is a journey of many crooked roads. You seem to like flying very
much. You will not let go of that if you really are passionate about
it, but there is nothing wrong with taking a break. It also seems
like you've got alot of stuff still unresolved in your mind about your
ex, etc...Give yourself some time to deal with it. Airports will
always be there, and they'll always have planes to fly. Get to it
when your ready and you'll really enjoy it. If you keep forcing it
you won't have any fun, will spend alot of money, and might possibly
loose interest completely.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I hope it helped.

z