Overcoming fear is never easy. I’ve heard it said that you can fight FEAR by:
“Facing Everything And Relaxing”.
Easier said than done…
Friday Fictioneers – Rochelle Wisoff-Fields posts a pic each week to write a 100 word story about.
This week, it’s humor (funny, it was humor the week before, and the week before that, and the week before…)
Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Fright or Flight: The Wings of Man
(AKA: I Be Wingin’ It)
Flying is my greatest fear.
But here I am spreading my wings a little. Ha.
My therapist said this was an important step:
“To grow, you have to fly.”
Against my better judgment, I am in flight to my brother’s, who pronounced:
“Fighting fear without action is like a bird trying to fly without wings.”
How Zen.
I had vehemently refused to fly on vacation with my estranged wife. But when our kids told her, she sniped:
“Tell him if he wants to overcome his trust issues, he ought to try jumping.”
I told that to my minister to overcome my anger; she just mumbled something about wings, and a prayer.
Randy Mazie
The Writer's Village 
Dear Randy,
I like the camber and chord of your story. Well done.
Aloha,
Doug
A little alliteration I cee.
Well, as we say in Me-cee-co, “c. c.”
Gra-cee-as, amigo.
Dear Randy,
So…i’ll send this story to my brother who’s afraid of flying. But I don’t think it will help much. Does your rabbi know about your minister? Fly little bird, fly!
Shalom,
Rochelle
Listen, if the story doesn’t help your brother I know a good therapist, minister and an ex-wife who’ll give him some good advice.
especially the ex.
The rabbi recommended the minister. The rabbi has a fear of flying.
He tugged at his beard saying something about: keeping your head out of the clouds, and your feet firmly planted on the ground. Or, maybe it was that I should grow like on onion with my head in the ground and my feet in the air.
Who can remember such things?
.Randy
Fun read, Randy.
I hear Amtrak has discounts, though. If they were non-stop, heck yeah I’d use it!
My wife and I took Amtrak over Christmas to Savannah. We loved the trip. However, coming back there was a bad snowstorm and it must’ve taken us about 18 hours to get from Savannah back to Fort Lauderdale. The train kept getting delayed and delayed, and the air-conditioning didn’t work, at one point the electric went out, it really was a difficult trip. Randy
Yeah. Short-term trips are better.
Humour, but also a serious message, Randy 🙂
So true. To overcome our fear, we have to do what we are afraid of.
Jumping with hope & prayer makes sense 🙂
I don’t know about jumping…
You’re right, it is indeed any amusing ditty. Reminds me of a comidien at a club telling a joke!
I don’t remember writing any amusing ditty.
But there is a 2 drink minimum at this nightclub… Randy
Ha.. The reference to Erica Jong is just a coincidence? Humor with a little edge I think
Erica Young’s Fear of Flying was a whole different ball park.
And I do mean ball park.
Randy
“Fighting fear without action is like a bird trying to fly without wings.” This is actually a brilliant and very true statement. Coming to grips with fear is so important in life and being able to make it funny as well as meaningful is great. Well done!
Hi Perry,
Thanks for the nice comment.
i felt a little bite there towards the end. 🙂 I have to read Erica Jong. I have her book but couldn’t really get it then. I was rather dense. Am still but…
Lily
There was no bite at the end. That was “Fright or Flight: the Wings of the Bat” – a totally different story about vamps.
And no worries about Erica Jong. i knew her father Karl who dabbled in symbolism all the time.
Did you know that the family wrote the song in the play South Pacific:
“Jonger than spring time am I”
just a few little tidbits. Randy 😉
I prefer to fight my fear by hiding under the bed 🙂
Nice story, maybe I’ll have to try to take its message to heart in future.
Me, too. Move over under there.
Wow, I haven’t dusted under here in a while. Randy
Randy, Funny story with a lot of truth. It’s very difficult to fly these days, and that’s even before you get on the plane. The comments on the story were almost as good as the story itself. Well written as usual. 🙂 —Susan
Thank you, Susan
The comments are always as much fun as the material.
That’s what we strive for… have some fun.
Randy
I can see why your narrator and his wife became estranged. As for the suggestions from the brother and the therapist – I think they should talk less. Thanks for the FEAR acronym – that is useful advice.
Sometimes, it’s also “F*ck Everything And Run”
Yep, I can see that 🙂