Sometimes it seems that life offers you little lessons and important reminders. All you have to do is open your eyes and make time.
I am in a stage of life that offers me very little private time. Running a client based communications business and raising a child in an era of cell phones, text messages, twitter, and facebook means almost constant interaction with others. My rare business trips offer me some of the only extended, uninterrupted alone time I ever have. This precious time occurs with my seat belt tightly fastened.
On a recent overnight trip to New York I had a truly enjoyable and uplifting travel experience. Like me, you probably thought such a thing had become extinct. On the Delta shuttle out of Chicago Midway, surrounded by mostly savvy travelers, I had the chance to slow down, relax and gain some perspective. Many people in my life are experiencing struggles of late and I have been caught up in emotion while spiraling through the busy craze of everyday.
My first reminder that things are not always as they seem, was the voice of a female pilot who welcomed us over the plane’s intercom before two quite tough looking male flight attendants, one of them with hair in braids, prepared us for the flight. I clutched my airport coffee with both hands and huddled against the window watching the landscape speed by before shrinking into the distance. Up, up through the dark clouds and light rain, the plane shook a bit from side to side. I breathed deeply, sinking further into my chair, reflecting on all of the weightiness that adult life can bring.
My view of the gray and green grid below went blank as we entered the clouds and within moments, we burst through to smooth air and the most glorious blue sky. At first, I was almost stunned by the immediate change in surroundings. And then I remembered, no matter what darkness temporarily impedes your view, that bright blue sky is always there, just above the clouds. I spent the rest of the flight to New York and the flight back thinking, catching up on reading, gaining some needed big-picture perspective and rediscovering my blue sky.