Decrease Speed

ATC: Jazz 122 say speed

With all my might I resisted the urge to say "speed"
instead of what I actually said, "190kts, we're operationally limited to that today"

Day 8 of line indoc complete and I am starting to understand the airplane more and more. It's a Dash 8 so it's not overly fast, but it can be quite a challenge slowing it down when you need to slow down. I am learning that, for myself the greatest challenge I still face is knowing when to slow down, getting to know the rhythm of the airplane when it's time for approach and landing. When and by how much to slow down.

Today made me even more aware of that as we had an operational limitation on our airplane due to an item on the airplane that wasn't available (it was perfectly capable of flying without it) and therefore we had to operate under very specific limitation. Max 190kts.

Now sitting on the bedroom floor I am reminiscing about simpler days, which was actually not that long ago. In almost an instant everything seemed to come rushing down and before I could figure out what was happening, I was busier than a bee.

Work is keeping me on my toes, moving to a new city to be based out of, and traveling back on my days off to see the people I love. Not just me, everyone else seems to be moving quite quickly with life. Getting engaged or married or pregnant, I am seeing it in every corner of my friendships.

When did everything become so fast? Faster than 190kts. Faster than what I could fathom at this time. We can't just turn around in life and reverse or even stop dead in our tracks.

But we can mindfully slow things down. We can be here now.
We're not meant to go fast, we were built with legs, not wheels or wings. We have to be able to enjoy ourselves, the people around us, and the universe.

Take the time to do absolutely nothing. Dolce far niente
Slow down your breathing, your walking, your eating. Let a slow and steady pace be the norm.
Put a limit to yourself every now and then: 190kts.