Ryan Handley was a good friend – and a hell of a pilot. Because of this, I wanted him to be in an aviation video I was producing.
A Day at the Office featured three young people who flew for a living. I had already filmed the female roles but still needed to cast the male. Ryan fit the bill perfectly. Young, photogenic, and an excellent commercial pilot to boot, Ryan was the guy to fly.
Ryan flew crop dusters for a living. For him, flying was more than a job; it was his oxygen. Given a sliver of opportunity, Ryan would find a way to get in the air. When I called him Friday night about the project, his enthusiasm took me by surprise. He had his flight suit packed before we got off the phone.
But there was a fly in the soup - I wasn’t ready…yet. Maybe in three weeks. I still had a lot of prep work, and besides, quality takes time.
“Let’s give it a few weeks”, I said.
Ryan didn’t buy it. In fact he told me I was full of hooey! Sensing I was procrastinating, he suggested we bump up the schedule from three weeks to the upcoming Sunday – a mere two days away.
“Are you nuts?” I said. “I haven’t done the storyboarding, I haven’t written the script… and besides, we’ve got plenty of time…”
“Hooey!” Ryan said, You’re stalling, pal…”
I folded and agreed to fly on Sunday.
We used two airplanes for the shoot. Ryan’s dad flew my airplane while I shot the video of Ryan flying his aerobatic Pitts Special.
The boy was good. Real good. Sixteen-point aileron rolls, inverted flight, and close-in formation all made for a breathtaking experience. The father-to-son aerial interaction made the exercise all the more inspiring.
That afternoon we flew back to Ryan’s hometown in Firebaugh, California. We both knew the day was a success. After landing, Ryan hopped out, gave me a two-fisted thumbs-up and flashed a pie-eating grin. I taxied to the runway, punched pedal-to-the-metal and jetted back to Sacramento.
That was the last time I would ever see my friend. Ryan died two days later in a nighttime flying accident.
Although Ryan’s death was a tragedy and painful loss, he left behind a message worth its weight in diamonds. That message is laced throughout the book and can be condensed to a single, solitary, down-in-the-trenches, five-letter word. Can you guess it?
You want a take-home point? Here it is. Pull the trigger now! Take action on your dreams today. Not tomorrow. Not next week, but today -- this very moment. From here on out, say no to excuses. Regardless of your job, your age, your finances, your lack of time…stop. Stop the excuses. Holler out, “Hooey!” if you must. All those bulletproof justifications are simply baloney-filled bilge that supports perpetual inaction.
The very last thing Ryan said on the Day at the Office video was, “If you don’t like what you’re doing, then do something about it. Life’s too short to stay grounded.”
It was prophetic. And true. If you don’t like your circumstances, change them - now. Make every minute count, because sooner or later, you’re going to run out of minutes.
Napoleon Hill summed it up best when he said, “Life is a checkerboard, and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move promptly, your men will be wiped off the board by time. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision.”
What Hill is saying is that most people don’t realize they’ve wasted their life until it’s too late. The Hell Trains of challenge and opportunity have already left the station. However your train is just pulling in. You still have time for the ride of your life if you use the fleeting nature of time to your advantage.
Mark Twain got it right when he said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do.” Too many people go to their graves without ever doing what they ardently desired. I believe, if you’ve stayed with me this long, you have arrived at a decision to change.
Yes, Mark Twain had it right. But he also gave the solution when he dared us to sail from our safe harbor - to have the guts and grit to explore, dream and discover. To this statement, let me add one final comment: As you dare to move forward, expect the best to come your way. Don’t doubt. For with a plan, triggered by faith and action, you will surely create a passion-filled life of excellence - and purpose. You need only a clear starting point.
This…. is that point.
