35,000 Feet

Written last year, on an iPad whilst en route to the annual holiday. I kept this, didn’t share it. Then, this year our holiday was cancelled due to June having an accident (she is recovering but it had a horrendous impact on us both). And I have been on and off planes quite a bit, doing work in the Isle of Man. Then, our friends Odran and Cathy flew to California last week and the flight took about 30 hours due to two stop-offs to deal with passengers who were taken ill. That’s a long time in a confined space. With all of that in mind, this felt worth sharing… 

I’m in an airplane. Apparently it’s an Airbus A-330. They always give you that information when you fly. Strange that! I don’t remember ever being told what model of train I am on, or the make and model of the bus. I’m 35,000 feet in the air and I am up here for nine hours flying to West Coast Canada. It’s a long time to be holed up in a plane. We’ve been up here for 5 hours already.

Flying is something I find challenging. Despite my best efforts with meditation and other approaches to calm down, I still get really stressed out and particularly hate security at the airport. And there’s all of the waiting which goes on for ever. There is something about the process of security, removing your valuables, your belt, your shoes, taking out laptops, phones and tablets. It’s all so disorienting. That’s the root of the feelings of stress.

But I wanted to write a short blog post to describe the positive side of a long plane journey. Nine hours to read, to write and to listen to music. It’s bliss! The last of these flights I did last year, I read an entire book on the one journey. (Seth Godin’s ‘Purple Cow’ if you were wondering). These days I rarely get the chance to read a book in one sitting. It’s a rich experience.

In every experience of discomfort there is a great blessing. It is important to find a way to seek out that positive aspect. We can’t control what is going on around us, but we can control our minds and how we respond to it.