The Sketch Newtonian

It's kinda funny.  Very recently I was feeling weird because I felt like I was being made to decide what will happen with the next few years of my life and I was not ready.  Now I am once again stuck between stations with nothing really going on in my life and I am getting upset because I want to get started on with those next few years.  I must be very hard to please. (If you are currently nodding your head, that's fine, but there is no need to let me know)

I think the best part is knowing that something will eventually come of all this, whether I become a navigator or no.

I think the worst part is not so much the waiting, but staying positive while I am waiting.  This is mostly for the people around me, because the fact of the matter is that I am alright and I don't need people worrying about me.  Even so, it's mentally exhausting sitting around feigning a good attitude while someone in a headquarters somewhere takes his sweet time to make an easy decision.

Note to all personnel/human resource professionals - No one likes being treated like a number or a statistic or any other piece of data causing a human being not to be represented as a human being.  Some of you know this full well already, so thanks and keep up the good work.

Numbers don't get demotivated or frustrated, and while your job is VERY important, it is only important because there are people that need your service.  Please help us.

Who knows what will happen to me next?  I hope it's incredible.  I will be sure to let everyone know as soon as I do, but not before then.  Sorry.

Posted by Sketch Newton at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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It's official, folks.  We signed the papers today eliminating me from pilot training.  Now I am playing the waiting game to find out my new job in the Air Force.  It's looking pretty favorable toward me being a navigator.

While I kinda felt this coming for a while now, it still feels weird to sign on the line admitting my failure to the world.  Not that this doesn't make life exciting.  I get to go down a new road and try something different.  Maybe I'll be really good at this different thing, too.  Who knows?

Right now, I am simply soaking in life and enjoying the company of the incredible people I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by.  To the ones who offered their thoughts and assured me that everything would work out, I thank you.  Y'all made this much easier. 

Everything is working out...just not as I expected.

Posted by Sketch Newton at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I think it was Ben Gibbard who wrote "every plan is a tiny prayer to Father Time."

This past year has been one big lesson in the fact that you can never really count on anything.  That is not an attempt to sound cynical at all, but change happens and there isn't much any of us can do about it.  Sometimes all of the changes and upsets make life rather, if not extremely, frustrating.  When life gets hard, we need to push through to achieve the things that we want in life.  At times, though, we need to understand when to cut our losses and throw in the towel.

Discerning between which times are which is very difficult.  A lot of times, we get caught up in the emotions we are experiencing and stick with a sinking ship to spite it or, even worse, give up on something we really want because it's the easier option.

If you know what I am talking about so far, then you understand my predicament.

I may be leaving pilot training.  I have the option to fight and stay, but the fact of the matter is I am not very good at military flying and I would be committing to something for next decade leaving me in a constant struggle to stay afloat.  This is only worth it if flying makes me happy.

How does anyone ever figure this stuff out?

I am lucky that I have so many options.  I am really interested in any advice that anyone who reads this is willing to offer, because this is a big decision.  I know what I feel in my gut as the right thing to do, but I don't want to be impulsive.  What do y'all think?  Let me know.  Seriously.

Posted by Sketch Newton at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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