Lessons from Flying

Lift us up and keep us safe.  Lift us up and keep us safe.  Lift us up and keep us safe.  I repeat these words over in my head.  There is that time right before takeoff when I say a little prayer.  I doubt I’m the only one.  That’s a powerful thought – you have a group of a hundred or so strangers all sending up a similar positive thought (prayer) at the same time.  Of course when you’re scared or faced with uncertainty, it’s easy to turn to prayer.  Why do we wait for the extreme moments to ask for help and support?

Lesson 1: Support is available to you every minute of every day, whether you need it or not.  Don’t wait.  And don’t be so arrogant in the good times to think that you don’t need support.  Check in with yourself multiple times every day.  It can be as simple as a deep breath or a quick prayer.

Back in the plane, we lift up high above the ground.  We left a city that was overcast and dreary.  The clouds had come in and rain was threatening.  Though the rain is welcome, the gray clouds change the overall mood of the day.  As we pass through and emerge from the clouds, we are greeted by the bright blue sky and radiant sun.  It is still there; ready to light the way even if we can’t see it. 

Lesson #2: Just because you can’t see something anymore doesn’t mean it no longer exists.  Clouds may have rolled in and your path may be a little darker than it was, but the sun is there.  You can wait for it to come back or you can lift your head above the clouds and get clarity once again. 

As we start to descend we pass through the clouds again.  There’s turbulence and the plane is tossing about.  As we slowly descend, we bump around, nothing terrible, but you can’t see it coming so every jolt catches you off guard.  We are in the clouds for what seems like a very long time.  Surrounded by grey, I’ve lost all perspective.  Are we close to the ground?  We keep descending, but still can’t see anything.  Are all the pilot’s electronics working?  At this point I have to trust that though he can’t see the ground, he knows where he’s at, checks his gauges and keeps going.  After what seems like a long time, we emerge from the clouds.  In an instant, I am relieved and comforted to see we are high above the houses below.   

Lesson #3: When your perspective is fogged/clouded over, don’t panic and trust in the path you’ve set out on.  It’s easy to let doubt become your clouds.  You start to worry that you’re not headed in the right direction.  Before you start to course correct, be sure that you make decisions with a clear perspective.  If you begin changing course while you are surrounded by clouds, you might make a turn that you don’t need to make.  Wait for the clouds to clear.  Then, once you can clearly see the whole picture, you may realize you’re not as close to the ground as you thought you were.

 

Heart-FULLy yours, 

Kacey