The Purpose of a Plane

Sometimes I think life is like a plane flying.

            Tell me, what is a plane primarily made for? For flying, of course! Every plane is made for flying , for leaving the pavement, defying gravity, and soaring about the ground. Some are made for speed, some to carry people, some to transport large items, some for the sheer joy of traveling through the air—but all are made to fly.

But have you ever felt a plane take off? The energy it takes to get of the ground, going faster and faster and faster, the engine growing louder and louder, until finally the front wheels leave the ground, then the back wheels, and it’s going up, and farther up, till it is flying. There’s a brief moment when gravity releases its hold, and the passengers’ stomachs drop—and then gravity takes hold again, and the plane strains to go ever higher against its pull.

When a plane is doing what it is made for the engine is running hard, the metal body strains against the ever-insistent pull of gravity, and the wings tilt and shake to rise above every buffet of wind. Doing what it’s made for, fulfilling its purpose, takes all the skill and strength the plane was created with.

Sometimes I think life is like a plane flying.