Life Journey: Building Your Airplane While Flying It – My Path Through Uncertainty and Discovery
Have you ever felt like you’re figuring out life as you go along? That’s exactly how I see my journey through this world—we’re all essentially building our airplanes while we’re already in flight. This metaphor has become central to how I understand my own existence, and I’d like to share these thoughts with you.
I believe we’re all on a unique path from birth to death, with countless adventures and experiments along the way. Let me take you through my understanding of this journey we call life, how I’ve come to appreciate its complexity, and perhaps offer some perspective that might resonate with your own experience.
The Beginning and End: Our Unchangeable Boundaries
My life journey—like yours—has a definite beginning (birth) and will have a definite end (death). These two points are set in stone, though the timing of the ending remains one of life’s great mysteries. Sometimes I wonder about this unpredictability. I could be here for decades more, or my journey could end unexpectedly tomorrow. This reality has taught me to value today rather than assuming tomorrow is guaranteed.
Between these two fixed points lies everything that makes me who I am. The longer I live, the more my past expands while my future likely contracts. The only constant is the present moment—always moving, always current until the very end.
What fascinates me most is what I call the “caps of unknowns”—the mysteries before birth and after death. Whatever your spiritual or philosophical beliefs, we can agree that empirically, we don’t have firsthand knowledge of what lies beyond these boundaries. This makes the journey between them even more precious.
Adventures and Experiments: Flying While Building
I see life as a continuous series of adventures and experiments. Sometimes I know where I want to go, and sometimes I don’t. Some experiments yield wonderful results, while others fail spectacularly. But each one teaches me something valuable.
This experimental nature of life reminds me of building an airplane while already in flight—we’re figuring out how to live even as we’re living. We’re constructing our values, beliefs, and understanding of the world even as we navigate through it. There’s something both terrifying and liberating about this reality.
Think about your own major life decisions: choosing a career path, deciding whether to have children, selecting where to live. Did you have perfect information when making these choices? I certainly didn’t. I made educated guesses, took calculated risks, and adjusted course as I went along.
The Threads That Make Up Our Journey
Within my larger life journey, I’ve noticed numerous “threads” or sub-journeys that weave together to create the tapestry of my existence. Some of these include:
- Relationship journeys (friendships, romantic partnerships, family connections)
- Career and professional development
- Personal interests and hobbies
- Health and physical well-being
- Spiritual and philosophical explorations
What’s fascinating is how these threads have different durations. Some relationships have lasted my entire adult life, while others were brief but impactful. My career has taken unexpected turns I never could have predicted. My interests have evolved, with some passions fading and new ones emerging.
All these threads will end when my life does, but many conclude well before that final moment. I’ve learned not to mourn their natural endings too deeply—they’re all part of the grand experiment.
Accumulating Experience, Forming Opinions
Throughout this journey, I’m constantly gathering information through my senses. These inputs flow into what I think of as my “mind bucket,” where they’re processed into thoughts and eventually form opinions. This continuous cycle shapes how I view both myself and the world around me.
I’ve noticed that my opinions aren’t static—they evolve as I gather new information. Sometimes new experiences reinforce what I already believe, and other times they challenge me to reconsider my position entirely. This fluidity used to make me uncomfortable, as if changing my mind was a sign of weakness. Now I see it as evidence of growth.
The sum of these accumulated experiences and formed opinions creates my unique perspective. No one else has lived exactly the same life or processed information in precisely the same way. Even among my siblings, who shared the same parents and similar upbringings, our individual journeys and resulting worldviews differ significantly.
The Role of Predetermined Factors
While I emphasize the experimental nature of life, I must acknowledge the many factors I didn’t choose. I had no say in:
- Who would my parents be
- Where I would be born
- My genetic makeup
- The era I would live in
- The cultural environment of my formative years
These predetermined elements have profoundly shaped my journey. They influenced my early perspectives on everything from food preferences to religious beliefs. They gave me certain advantages and disadvantages before I was old enough to make my own decisions.
Yet within these constraints, I’ve found room for agency. I can’t change where my journey began, but I can influence its direction going forward. This balance between circumstance and choice is one of life’s most fascinating tensions.
Finding Meaning in the Journey
As I’ve navigated my own life journey, I’ve often wondered about its ultimate meaning. Is there an overarching purpose to all this, or do we create our own meaning as we go?
I don’t claim to have definitive answers to these philosophical questions. What I’ve found, though, is that meaning often emerges from the journey itself—from connections with others, from personal growth, from contributing something positive to the world, however small.
Perhaps the airplane we’re building while flying isn’t meant to reach a specific destination. Maybe the purpose is in the building itself—in the learning, experimenting, and adapting that make up a well-lived life.
Questions to Consider on Your Own Journey
As you reflect on your own life journey, here are three questions that might deepen your understanding:
- What “threads” or sub-journeys make up your life experience, and how have they evolved over time? Are there any you’ve outgrown, and new ones you’re just beginning?
- How have predetermined factors (your birthplace, family, era, etc.) shaped your journey, and in what ways have you exercised agency within these constraints?
- If life is indeed like building an airplane while flying it, what are you currently constructing? Are there parts of your “aircraft” that need reinforcement or redesign?
We’re all on this extraordinary journey together, yet each following our unique path. As I continue building my airplane in mid-flight, I find comfort in knowing that everyone around me is doing the same experimenting, adjusting course, and making the most of the journey between birth and whatever lies beyond.
