I have no answer, and I’m uneasy. A friend has asked me the thought-provoking question, “What keeps you from your success?”
It took me a few days to process this question. I am successful. No, I’m not driving a Mercedes two-seater convertible (sigh) or living in a fancy house. But coming from a tough childhood without good parents, I feel like I’m amazingly successful.
When Amelia Earhart told her parents that she wanted to fly, it was a time when there were almost no women pilots. Her father still said, “That’s not a bad idea.” Her mother helped her buy her first plane.
“I didn’t realize it at the time,” wrote Earhart in The Fun of It, “the cooperation of one’s family and close friends is one of the greatest safety factor a fledgling flyer could have.”
That’s true not only for flyers, but for doctors, lawyers, and yes, even writers.
Without any parental support, I knew that no one was going to save me if I made mistakes. I had to be cautious. I still am.
Would Amelia Earhart have been a pilot without her parents’ help? Maybe not. But if she was, it would have been a lot harder.