When I was a young entry level student pilot, my flight lessons were something that was absolutely terrible. Now on the surface, that might sound like an odd thing to hear from someone who claims that, ever since he was a toddler, airplanes have been a major passion in his life.

But no, those lessons were horrible. You see, I got air sick. And by air sick I don’t mean slightly queasy. I’m talking about the “turn green and puke till you don’t have any left” type of air sick that should’ve steered me to another passion.

It was so bad that I became known around the flight school by the nickname of “Pukie Dukie”.

Post lesson I could be found hosing off the side of the airplane before putting it back in the hangar. Thank goodness our training aircraft had a window that opened up!

There was more than one occasion where my instructor would greet me with a “hello, after the last lesson, we didn’t think we would see you around here anymore.

Why do you keep doing this to yourself”? My answer was always the same. “Sir. I’m gonna be a Commercial Pilot some day”.

Over time, this malady slowly ebbed. To be honest, I don’t really recall how or when, but it just did. Fast forward a year later and a few hundred hours as an Instructor myself, I became the flight schools chief spin and unusual flight envelope instructor. (Nausea invoking activities).

In Scroll III, Og Mandino urges us to “persist until I succeed”. Had I listened to that inner voice or the instructors that continually asked “why do you keep doing this”?

Or had I decided that the joking, albeit in good nature, was more than I wanted to deal with, the life and career that ensued would not be what I and my family enjoy today.

As I review the game tape of everything that went well in my life, whether it be my air sickness issues or even pursuing the love of my life, it would not have happened had I not persisted in the quest.

Reading the Scroll III has made it abundantly clear, and my life is personal validation that this is a recipe for success and I will continue to employ this in ALL my endeavors.