[Heel n Toe]

Shawn... dude... you're not afraid of flying... you're afraid of crashing.

There's a huge difference.

Being afraid of crashing is not irrational... it's completely healthy.

When you get off the ground in a plane, there's no way to know if you'll touch back down safely.

You said, "My hobbies are dirt biking, off road trucks, racing, motorcycles, etc. but for some reason planes scare the hell out of me!"

Planes scare you because if they crash, you're more likely to get more seriously hurt or dead than if you crash any of your ground-based hobby vehicles.

Just remember, you're not afraid of flying. Repeat it to yourself as the plane is taking off: "I'm not afraid of flying... I'm afraid of crashing."

Heh heh. I don't like flying, but I've done so little of it, I've never worked up a paralyzing fear (of crashing). Went up in a small plane once and have only been on two commercial round trip flights... Columbia to NYC through ATL (and back) and Charlotte to Phoenix through DFW (and back).

I actually like the visual/spatial experience of it and love to be next to a window. Not white knuckled at all.

Any anxiety I have is... hard to put into words... but the best way I can explain it is leaving this earth before I'm ready to... sort of like not wanting to leave before unfinished business is done. But that still doesn't express it. But I think I'm past that now.

For instance, about 7 1/2 years ago, when my present wife and I got married, I would not have wanted to fly because we had just begun our life together, and even though I knew the overwhelming statistics of flying safety, I would've just rather not flown, knowing that if something went wrong, it's a bad place to be.

I didn't want to be on the news as the sad story of the newly weds who were so happy, etc.

I could fly now without being very concerned about that... maybe that doesn't make any sense and doesn't help you at all... it's just my experience.

I've heard great things about hypnosis helping people stop smoking... two very good friends did it... might be worth checking into for your fear of crashing, too.