I thought of a great analogy:
Life is basically just a series of missed connecting flights and flight delays, and you never actually make it to your destination.You only make it to Cancun when you die.
Can anyone else relate?
I have missed so many flights- especially connecting flights. There I was, rushing through the airport, sprinting to my next plane, only to see the attendant closing the door.
Dad, if you’re reading this, remember that time we forgot about daylight savings? And I almost missed my flight to Florida? It was spring break in college. By sheer luck (and dad going way too fast on 287), we made it to the airport. I had just enough time to rush to my seat, fly to Florida and end up at my aunt and uncle’s with the stomach bug. Good times.
I thought that making that flight would be it...everything would be okay once I got on the plane and I could finally just enjoy my vacation. Boy was I wrong. That was my sophomore year, and if you’ve ever attended a Christian College, you know how that year can be. There is a reason it is coined with the nickname "Sophomore Slump."
I was in desperate need of a vacation.
I remained sick for my entire spring break. Just when I started to feel better, it was time to fly back to school. Thank God for my aunt and how well she took care of me, I was really sick. That is not a spring break I like to remember. To this day, we still call the bed I slept in “the sick bed."
Or here's another example...a few years ago, when I weighed more than I do now, I was convinced that losing weight and getting in shape would help me get over all of my body image issues and I'd finally get a boyfriend. Nope. I got in shape, even became a spin instructor, but my root issues were never dealt with. It ended up prolonging my healing. The lie I believed about needing to lose weight before someone would love me? I ended up dating a guy who wanted to marry me when I was at my heaviest. The irony, right?
Why do we live our lives this way? We think "if I could just get through this week" or "if I can just make it to my vacation" or "if I just lost weight," that life would be dandy, right? Why don't we build a life for ourselves that we aren't always trying to escape from? Why do we think that getting on the plane and making it to our destination will make everything fine?
For all you know, you might be like me and end up in the sick bed!
There will always be something “else” that gets in the way.
There will always be some issue or circumstance that we have to deal with. Stomach bugs, unforeseen expenses, injuries, sick family members. We just exchange one set of problems for another.
There will always be something.
Cars break down, appliances break, payments must be made, we get hurt and we miss flights. And life is just a continuous series of having to pay for things we don’t actually want to pay for, right? Like toilet paper. House cleaning products. New tires on your car. Luggage fees at the airport. Does anyone actually enjoy paying for those things? I'd really like all those $30 charges back, Delta, thank you very much!
And I’ve also found that a lot of my twenties I've been on edge.
Nervous about paying my bills, and even getting annoyed when I have to go to the dentist or the doctor or anywhere that costs money….I kid you not, I asked my doctor how much the flu shot cost the other day. And I almost didn't get blood work done because I was worried it wasn't covered by insurance. I guess I am more my father than I realize. I really hate spending money.
And maybe that’s why I hate being an adult sometimes…..because no matter what, every day, you have to spend money on something that you don’t actually want to spend money on.
And, once you do spend the money, nothing ever lasts. Toilet paper runs out, tires don't pass the penny test and we live in a world where there is no such thing as a free checked bag. (Side note, I once traveled across the country and flew from New Jersey to California with rolls of toilet paper in my bag from my parents house...just further proving my case that I really am that cheap)
There is never a time where everything is settled and coming to grips with this is hard.
The wheels of life are always churning.
Once we open one door, there's just another one waiting.
Yet, in all of this, this is the beauty of life.
We will never fully have control over everything.
And we were never meant to.
We live in a state and world of constant deterioration. Our bodies, our apartment's cleanliness, the piles of laundry, no matter what, we will age, things will get dirty, things will break and we will have to do laundry.
And I know for me personally, I just get annoyed at things because I want to be in control.
And that's really what I think it all comes down to.
The cold hard truth? We have very little control over situations and our lives than we think.
There will always be dots to connect.
But only God can really connect the dots.
How reassuring that is.
I think missed flights remind us that life is what happens in the in-between.
Life isn't when we finally get to where we want to be, but all the stories and memories and crazy things that happen in the in-between. Life happens in the unplanned moments.
Life is what is happens to us while we are still connecting the dots.
And things never goes the way we plan...and honestly, I’m really glad that’s true.
Things always seem to work out better than I think they will. There is always a reason for the flight delay. Is that true for you too?
Sure, life is crazy. It's messy and insane at times. Like the time I ended up on that Greyhound bus to Nashville, Tennessee. But without the chaos, our stories would be so lame.
So what do you need to let go of today? Frozen 2 is coming out soon. What good timing. Elsa herself is telling you, so it's time to let some things go.
What is annoying you the most right now and what do you maybe need to let go of? We aren't in control, and we will never be in control.
Maybe you were supposed to miss that flight after all...there's always a reason. Maybe the next one is really the one you were supposed to be on all along. Trust it. And don't worry so much about getting to your destination, anyway. There's too much fun to be had along the way.
We will never arrive, it's an endless search.
E
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