I overcame my fear of flying by accepting that if it's my time, it's my time. I too am in my early 40s and I feel I have lived a decent life. Unlike you however

I overcame my fear of flying by accepting that if it's my time, it's my time. I too am in my early 40s and I feel I have lived a decent life. Unlike you however, I haven't traveled much, and it became more of a priority for me to face this fear. On a side note, the best way to overcome any fear is to face it, repeatedly. In my fight with flying fear, I forced myself to fly often and longer and longer distances. Secondly, you need to stop negative thoughts in their tracks. Fear is exacerbated by an endless stream of "what if" thoughts that can spiral out of control. I learned to practice mindfulness and stop these thoughts. It takes practice and patience, but you'll find how free you can be from fear when you learn to reject these thoughts.