Smile, what an amazing post. I've reread it three times. You've articulated some deep, important notions about confidence, control, groundedness, pace. My brain is spinning as I link it all up in my head. I think your theory is brilliant and spot on.

First, your trip with Alex. You've already started that journey. By deciding to take it, by starting to plan it, by visualizing it, by simply getting ready to go, you're already on your way. Each new building block you put in place preparatory to actually leaving your driveway is a journey -- a successful one. You're already succeeded at this trip, already achieved small, measured, important steps.

You had a bad day yesterday. Stuff happens. Take a deep breath, slow down, deal with each hurdle as it comes, and then put it aside. If we didn't have hurdles, we wouldn't be able to feel the extreme joy and confidence that comes from clearing them. If there are no lows, there can be no highs.

And there's something else about your trip which is wonderful and inspiring, and that is the fact that you're giving your grandson an experience that will enrich him. He is, as you say, precious cargo. And the fact that that precious cargo and the precious cargo's parents love and trust you enough to say, "Yes, this trip is a great idea," should, in itself, give you confidence. They have confidence in you. They trust you. And trust is earned, not given away for free, and you did the earning. So you've got the stuff, and others see it. When you occasionally misplace pieces of your self-confidence, stop and look at yourself from their eyes, and I bet you'll get it back.

Your theory about eye movement and ground travel and stress is amazing -- that there's a physical basis for the psychological benefits of ground travel -- the ability of ground travel to bolster our confidence and, ultimately, our joy and satisfaction with life. I don't think that's a reach. I think it's real. After I read your post, I thought about the times during travel when I feel good versus the times I don't. I think you're right on, and I think the word "grounded" is a term we can load with meaning.

When I fly, I'm stressed. If I'm flying with my kids, I'm trebly stressed. And it's because I have no control. From takeoff to landing, I must sit and wait for the safe conclusion to a flight I can in no way influence. Your fight or flight analogy is apt. I can do neither. But once on the ground, all control, except divine, comes back to me, and my stress is relieved. I do not consider flight time as a "real" part of a journey. It is a conveyance method to be endured until I arrive at the place where my "ground journey" will begin.

If, on the other hand, I travel by foot, bike (12-speed, no Harleys for me ), train, car, bus or even boat (although you'll never get me on an ocean cruise -- I'd have that same sense of non-control), each moment of movement using those methods is, absolutely, a deep and satisfying part of my journey.

You equate ground travel and the connection of the eyes to one's physical space as you move through it as "a way to trick our brains into thinking we have fought the adversary or run away," making us "healthier in every way." I agree, but I'd throw another possible way of looking at it out at you. While our steady, controlled, forward movement can be an adrenaline-releasing act that relieves stress and puts us in control, helping us feel that we've fought or fled, it can also be an act that takes us not away from danger, but toward and through challenges, toward joy, satisfaction. We can get away from negative things, and we can also move toward positive things.

Each step or mile in a journey yields something. If the something is a challenge, as you're theory assumes, we're "grounded," in control enough, to consider it, weigh options, make a decision, act, and overcome the obstacle. And, once over it, we're stronger than we were when we faced it from the other side. And the next hurdle -- and there will inevitably be one -- just doesn't look that high anymore. With each forward step on the ground, we build confidence.

I could keep going. I'm fascinated by the ideas you've introduced. But I'll stop and let somebody else talk...