When it's OK to settle for less

There is a line between determination, and greed, and it's very thin, writes Shropshire Star blogger Emma Suddaby . . . just ask former Shropshire MP Derek Conway!

I had to renew my flying medical earlier this month. When I went through the selection process for my scholarship, I just scraped through the medical, and it was due to this that Flying Scholarships for the Disabled put me up to train for a National Private Pilot's Licence.

This class of licence was created to allow people with medical issues to fly, and restricts me to flying in British airspace. Added to that I was granted a Grade One medical, the lower of two classes, clearing me to fly solo, or with passengers, if another qualified pilot is on board.

Now at the start of my adventure in aviation, I was so thrilled, and amazed to be flying at all, the conditions placed on that privilege barely registered. I remember commenting on the restriction to British airspace: "What do I care where I fly? The sky's the sky, wherever I am!"

And the possibility of actually flying solo or achieving my licence seemed so far away that clearance to carry passengers was the last thing on my mind.

But now it's almost in my grasp, those conditions have grown heavier in my mind.

I even spent a whole day on the phone, to various aviation authorities, insisting that the rules should be changed just for me, and when that didn't work, looking for loopholes that could give me the magical Grade Two. Eventually, I had to admit defeat.

I spent the next couple of days moping about, railing at the unfairness of it all and muttering bitterly, under my breath. Then I phoned my dad, my staunchest supporter, and launched into a tirade about the unjustness of it all.

And my dad said: "You know Em, I admire the way you set your mind to something and determinedly knock down the obstacles in your life, but you know deep down that it wouldn't be right for you to take passengers up in your condition. It's OK for you to risk your own life, but it's not OK, nor right for you to expose others to those risks."

And then he reminded me how over the moon I was to win a scholarship, when I'd once thought I'd never be allowed to fly at all.

Don't you just hate the way parents are always right!

I put the phone down, and realised, somewhere along the way, I'd got greedy. I'd stopped feeling lucky and started taking it for granted. I thought back to my elation when I first took control of an aeroplane, and wondered when I'd started to believe it was my right?

Setbacks are God's way of reminding us what we have, and how lucky we are to have it.

So, this week, when I accelerate down that runway, and take off into the big, blue sky, I won't be worrying about who's with me, or how it could be. I'll be taking a mental snapshot of the moment, the freedom, and the many lucky stars I should be counting.

• Inspirational Emma Suddaby shares her ” highs, lows - and various murky places inbetween” - with her weekly blog. Emma, a finalist in the 2007 Shropshire Star Woman of the Year competition, was diagnosed with aggressive, destructive rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 22. She has since won a dream flying scholarship with the charity Flying Scholarships for the Disabled and is now training for a National Private Pilot’s Licence.