Last night, on our flight home from London, we experienced some rather jarring turbulence. The middle-aged woman who sat behind me and and my daughter was panicking as we were getting walloped at 34,000 feet. She began crying and pleading, “Please help me!” 

I completely understand her fear as I, too, used to be unnerved by turbulence until I did my homework. Americans have a 1 in 114 chance of dying in a car crash and 1 in 9,821 chance of dying in a plane crash.* And although turbulence feels like a safety issue, it’s not. It’s a convenience issue. Essentially no plane has ever crashed from turbulence. And that simple fact eliminated my fear. 

What fear is paralyzing you? What fear is stopping you from moving forward? Have you thought about doing your “fear homework?” Maybe there isn’t a “Council” calculating real statistics but there certainly is a likelihood, a possibility, or a probability. Do you think the woman on the plane would have felt better knowing a plane cannot be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or flung from the sky by even the mightiest of turbulence? I do. Do your homework.

With Gratitude,
Beth
* According to the National Safety Council.