Introduction
The Fighter Pilot's Handbook
by John Roberts
Published, 1992, in Great Britain, Australia, the United States and Canada
Arms & Armour Press, London and Sterling Publishing, New York
Introduction
As with every profession, the fraternity of fighter pilots has its own special history, character, literature, ideology, standards, ideals, procedures, equipment and heroes. This collection is a sampling from the body of writings and illustrations - a flavour of pages, pictures and thoughts from a vast encyclopaedia which grows ever larger.
Above all, it is a book for fighter pilots. It is a compilation of a few of the things that I wish had been collected in one place when I was in the profession. And now that I am not, this is a book that I will always enjoy picking up. You could say that I put it together as much for myself as for anyone else, for this represents the life and ideals which were once my guiding force.
And it is, of course, not just a book for fighter pilots, but for all those who enjoy their story, admire their lives and respect their profession. For simple adventure and interest, there are few better images.
If you have known a fighter pilot, the chances are you knew someone with spirit, who approached the world positively and who was comfortable with himself. The man who masters himself and his aeroplane does not always master the other elements of his life, perhaps because he devotes himself so singlemindedly to his flying. Sometimes the drive and exuberance needed by his profession are out of place in the mortal world and outsiders find him a bit odd. Whatever the case, this book may help you to understand him.
But, no matter who you are, this book will tell you something about one of mankind's most admirable defenders, one who has been given a romantic role and a separate place in the pantheon of good, brave men.
Cancer: 100 Ways to Fight
A Positive Guide for Patients, Survivors, Caregivers and Loved Ones
I. Introduction
Cancer is combat. The warrior ethos applies.
––John Roberts
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
––The Bible: II Timothy 4
Fight to fly, fly to fight, fight to win.
––Top Gun Motto
For our discussion is about no ordinary matter, but on the best way to conduct our lives.
––Plato, The Republic
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
––Helen Keller
Every man, every civilization, has gone forward because of its engagement with what it has set itself to do. The personal commitment of a man to his skill, the intellectual commitment and the emotional commitment working together as one, has made the Ascent of Man.
––J. Bronowski, The Ascent of Man, 1973
If you have cancer, you must fight. You fight to stay alive, but also for much more. If you win the fight, you have added another new life to your old one. Even when you are prolonging your life or sure to die, you are still fighting for the other things, just as important: you are fighting for self-respect and dignity; you are fighting for peace and understanding; you are fighting for the ultimate reconciliation and love with your family and your spirituality. These are difficult challenges in the midst of your illness, but achieving these goals will give greater meaning to your life and overshadow the experience of dying.
This book is addressed in tone and style to the patient diagnosed with cancer. It makes no difference where you are in that process, even if you are probably cured or have many years to live. Whatever finally causes your death, this book will help you prepare, fight and eventually accept death in peace and dignity.
This book is also for everyone else in the world of cancer: doctors, nurses, researchers, caregivers and loved ones, for their focus must not only be on the disease and its treatment but also on the patient who needs their help in the fight. The intent here is to explain and encourage the fighting spirit, strength and attitude that will contribute to greater quality and quantity of life. Everyone must work together as a team to make this happen.
Since the majority of people with cancer will be cured or die of something else, there is much in this book to help minimize the effects on one’s normal life while also preparing for the possibility of a recurrence. There are so many roads from diagnosis to death, whatever the cause, that one must be extremely flexible and versatile in dealing with whatever comes along. Eventually, death must be faced and fought, even if not from cancer.
For most of us, the subject of death should be faced squarely rather than denied, although not necessarily immediately while hope is prominent. Once this is done, the patient and those giving care, support and love may then deal with the issues and advice in this book that will make the entire process of living with cancer and the possibility of dying from it much easier. In most cases, ignoring the reality of impending death makes the remaining life, however long, more difficult. It is possible, indeed essential, to be realistic while maintaining hope and optimism.
Fighting cancer does not necessarily require that you carry on a belligerent and tough fight to the exclusion of a peaceful acceptance at the end. At some point, however long or brief the final acquiescence, I believe there is a valuable reward in using one’s spirituality to ease the final days. We might say that, as a fighter, you do not simply give up and let go, but rather design the end of the fight with your mental comfort in mind, whatever that may be.
Everyone in the cancer world is trying to do a better job of helping patients live, and helping them die as they wish. And, as I pass through this unique world, I have seen that almost everyone could do a better job of this, not only for the patient, but for themselves. There is no school for this for most of us. Even some trained and experienced doctors still have difficulty in dealing with it, for they must try to balance their compassion with the need to maintain their own unemotional state of mind over years of contact with the intense emotions of a multitude of dependant patients whom they do not know very well.
If you are a member of the world of cancer, professional or loved one, but not a patient, I ask you to consider your overall ability and motivation to help the patient try to prolong the quantity and increase the quality of life. Perhaps something in this book will help you to improve that, and to use your knowledge to motivate the patient to actively participate in, and, in many cases, to lead the fight.
If you are a patient, regardless of your condition or time remaining, I ask you draw from this book whatever you can find that will help you fight the disease aggressively and positively. There are enough thoughts here, mine and otherwise, that I know you can find something useful and motivating. If you can, I want you to take the lead, to take advantage of all the forces around you, and to build your own strength to lead yourself. Every leader must first command self before attempting to command others.
Those who are not cured will always be on the lookout for the symptoms of debility in those organs subject to the cancer and the body as a whole. As that progresses, there will be ups and downs, good times and bad, and the will to fight will come under increasing assault. Each person will reach a point where it seems certain that all hope is gone, and each person will have to decide when to accept this and whether or not to “rage” against it until all life is gone. Many, who have fought bravely and steadily, will finally decide that it is time to find peace in the short time remaining. Fighters can do this with self-respect, for it also has an important purpose.
Selections from a book in progress.
No more than three may be copied, with attribution.
For additional content, see the website: www.CanFighter.com
Cancer: 100 Ways to Fight:
A Positive Guide for Patients, Survivors, Caregivers and Loved Ones
by John Roberts
Death
Don’t let the fear of dying ruin the rest of your life.
––John Roberts
Regrets
Our life is a trail strewn with the memories of our mistakes and failures, a dangerous path we must not retrace or dwell on even as we carry along the hard, heavy lessons we must depend on as we go forward.
––John Roberts
Symptoms
Cancer is so pervasive, and initially so insidious, that if you don’t learn and actively look for early symptoms of many kinds of cancer, you may be too late and are committing long-term suicide. Early detection is the best prevention.
––John Roberts
Winning
The real winner knows that winning is a personal philosophy and a way of life that requires a quantum jump into a comprehensive, deeply embedded attitude and belief system. That system sees personal goals with a different vision that most others do not understand or feel the need to achieve. The real winner has developed a different kind of brain for overcoming difficulty and finding happiness with a mind that automatically pursues exceptional achievement with intense coordination and effort.
––John Roberts
Perseverance
The great leaders all say the same thing: The principle element of success, above all the others, is simple persistence: the determination and drive to refuse to quit and to keep going when you don't feel like it, when the obstacles are high and your morale is low. That is when the successful person breaks out of the pack and leaps over failure.
––John Roberts
Spirit
Spirit is the core of a person, visible in personality, but something much deeper in character and soul. It is as though the other meaning of the word, a supernatural being, inhabits some people and gives them that special fire.
––John Roberts
Future
It is wiser to think of the future as a road without end rather than the last house on the road.
––John Roberts
Solitude
Solitude is my greatest solace and my greatest strength, because that is when my mind is at its best.
––John Roberts
Responsibilities
Responsibility begins with clearly understanding and firmly accepting that YOU are and will be responsible and accountable. Only then can you meet your responsibilities to yourself and then successfully turn to fulfilling your responsibilities to others.
––John Roberts
Grief
It is enough for death to take one life, not two. Just as the dying must find peace before they go, the living must find peace afterward.
––John Roberts
Last Words
Last words are like last sex; you hope for something inspirational and that it might not be the last after all.
––John Roberts
Attitude
If you don’t learn to maintain a positive attitude throughout your life, stronger and stronger as you grow older, you have missed a large part of what you could have done or enjoyed. You will never know how many people or situations turned their back on you, refusing to associate with negativism.
––John Roberts
Time
You will never have a more challenging and rewarding time management problem than in the time before you die.
––John Roberts
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is Act I, not the final curtain.
––John Roberts
Living
The more you live, the less you die.
––John Roberts
Heart
No heart ever broke down under the weight of its greatest qualities. But, its metaphysical development requires just as much consistent effort as the cardiovascular.
––John Roberts
Self-Respect
The damage to your past performance from fault and failure is not as serious as the damage you allow to your self-respect.
––John Roberts
Spirituality
Spirituality is one of the primary qualities that distinguishes us from all the other creatures. The wonder of it is that it is so broad and self-defining that every one of us can build one and benefit from it in any way we wish so long as it does no harm to others.
––John Roberts
Afterlife
Afterlife is not an escape; if you believe, and desire its benefits, it becomes your responsibility to conduct your life and its transition with a peaceful and deserving modesty.
––John Roberts
Love
Here I am. Please take care. I will give you everything I have. I expect the same.
––John Roberts
Aging
Aging is putting the final touches of genius on a grand work of art, including painting over the earlier mistakes.
––John Roberts
The Great Adventure
An adventure is more than something new and risky. It is another muscle in your great heart.
––John Roberts
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