MENTAL HOPSCOTCH
From SOARING BEYOND THE BASICS, page 29:
Safety must be maintained mentally as well as physically, and the same is true of readiness. From before arrival at the airfield until after your bird is secured for the night, and at all points between, treat each moment in soaring as if IT were most important – because it IS!
Consciously examine any perceivable bit of information (in the sky, in the aircraft, in your mind…), always looking for the unexpected. Whether fixing a gimpy canopy latch, or finding a way around a deadly sinkhole, try to recognize a situation or problem for what it really is, rather than assuming that preconceived notions formed a full picture – and imagine what other details or nuance might still be unperceived. In even the most ordinary (or threatening) circumstances, let curiosity flourish.
Having observed reality, the next step is to speculate on why it is so. Develop hypotheses about effects and their causes, and other relationships of every kind. Test new theories, and either alter those that prove flawed, or set them aside. For every idea, always maintain at least one backup: “If I’m wrong about this, WHY, and what might be the actual fact?” Perplexities and discoveries from previous experience come into play here, contributing to a new and greater understanding that is the overarching goal. Meanwhile, recognize also that your comprehension (especially of ongoing events) will be forever incomplete. As our prophet Doctor Jack says, “Embrace uncertainty.”
Now given what you think you know, what should you do about it? Compare new information with prior ideas, discarding bad ones, refining new ones, and integrating all. Novel relationships lead to improved strategies. Here too, past failures and triumphs can reflect on decisions made now, and alternatives are always necessary: “If this doesn’t work, what is plan B, plan C?” and so on. It’s like any other science experiment – except YOU are part of the experiment!
All this intellectual rigor will be fruitless unless you put these ideas into effect with authority. As in any sport, art, or science, equilibrium between aggressiveness and conservatism is key to both safety and success. Equipped with plausible concepts and a tentative plan, strive to combine self-disciplined precision with grace in every action – never accepting ‘good enough’ as good enough!
One of the sweetest facts about soaring is, however skilled you become, you’ll always have more to learn! Even when you’ve done your best to scrutinize, contemplate, plan, and execute, continual adjustments of all kinds will be necessary. Like every other process in life, soaring involves endless revision, modification, and compromise. Also, as in other disciplines, new solutions begin by returning to fundamentals and contemplating innovations yet untried…
These essentials of the mental game are entirely interrelated – and cyclic. You’re always proceeding to the next step, yet eventually returning to where you came in. The same, but different. Compare these phases to circles in a thermal. Though they accumulate to your advantage, however well you do, ultimately you’ll have to move on to something else. Always handle this situation as if your entire future depends on it, while preparing for whatever’s next. Imagine you’re this close to your first championship, or survival itself in some dire predicament. To prevail you must be a teensy bit more precise, and draw a hair more advantage from every opportunity. It’s your one chance, why not make the most of it?
Such diligence in this situation can do more than serve your present purpose. Mentally logging subtle detail of every kind will also make you more able to grasp further advantage next time around.