A lot of people have this dream of going on an island vacation and then spending their days swimming the clear blue ocean, sunbathing and just enjoying the beautiful and relaxing scenery. For sure you have this on your mind as well. However, if you are one among the many who are plagued by the fear of flying, then this will only remain a dream. But then again, wait! It does not have to end this way. You now, there are ways in order for you to be able to overcome your fear of flying and realize your long time dream of basking under the sun and soaking on the cool waters of the Caribbean!

First off all, what is this fear of flying? As defined, it is the refusal to get on board or even think of riding a plane. Here are some of the common symptoms of this said fear;

- Being overstressed and worried about the flight even if it is still a couple of days, weeks or months away

- Feeling overly anxious before and after boarding the aircraft

- Feeling the need for strong sedatives or alcoholic beverages to help calm yourself down

- Feeling nervous and agitated once the plane door closes, when it takes off and/or whenever you hear certain sounds or noises

The first thing that you need to accomplish in terms of how to overcome fear of flying is to find out why you are afraid of it – why does such fear exists. If you think about it, there are actually two kinds of things in your life; one involves the things that you can control and the other, which you cannot. The things that you can control are your actions as well as your reactions to various situations and your thoughts. On the other hand, those which you cannot control are the weather, thoughts of other people and their behavior among others.

Fear typically stems from your illogical assumption that those thing that you do not have control over will automatically turn out into awful incidents or experiences. Take this for instance. When you are on board a plane you are just a passenger, meaning you do not have control of the plane. You also cannot simply stop the aircraft and just get off it whenever you feel like it. But the question is, where does all of these assumptions originate? There is no single person in this earth who are born with fear on their minds, but instead, you learn it from your own personal experiences as well as from others around you.

Try hard to visualize where your fear began. It might be that you had a bad flight before wherein you experience claustrophobia panic attacks while flying or you saw or heard a terrible plane crash on the TV or radio and so on. It is then very likely that your mind captures these awful experiences and then amplifies them into a worst case scenario which in turn, heightens your fear. So, what you can try to do is to utilize your imagination in order to get rid of your fear of flying; instead of letting it feed and nurture your fear.