Winter is here. It has been cold, windy and the days have been microscopically short. It is hard to be optimistic with shortening days, cold and holiday season pressure. It is what I do though. It has been said the difference between achievers and non-achievers is that the non-achievers see a setback as a permanent condition and the achiever has a much more optimistic outlook and believes the setback is temporary. I believe that fact to be true. If you were a wild animal and you had to choose between being an optimist and a pessimist which would you choose to increase your chances of survival? I turned in all the paperwork to become a Distinguished Toastmaster today. This is the highest level of achievement in the organization (well it used to be). Hopefully I can get up in the air this weekend. My last lesson was tough. I had a lot of wind shear and a nasty crosswind. It was bumpy and variable winds. I need to know how to fly in bad weather too. It helps understand why you don...