Delayed flights, airport security, rude flight attendants, the blur of a city flashing before my eyes…. leave me wondering why I haven’t made a mad dash toward the emergency exit doors and actually followed the instructions to take a leap!
Hello! My name is Geanette and I am a “frequent flyer”!
I am the person who runs for the door when that “thing”… the first tickle of fear, flutter of the heart, confrontation, mis-understanding or challenge presents itself. You name it… I’m a flyer! Most people would call this a “psychological issue” … Not me! Nope… I’m in love with my frequent flyer miles… I’ve been all over this country to take flight from dealing with that “thing”.
Hmmm… I realized this quality of mine recently and am not so sure it’s okay anymore! Change is happening… and I’m still here. While reading about equanimity I came upon this insight “Equanimity…is based on the understanding that the conflict and frustration we feel when we can’t control the world doesn’t come from our inability to do so but rather from the fact that we are trying to control the uncontrollable.” In comparison, the “flight” response is a trigger to go into survival mode. “Our heart is not open. Our rational mind is disengaged. Our consciousness is focused on fear, not on love… We lose our ability to relax and enjoy the moment. We live from crisis to crisis, with no relief in sight. Burnout is inevitable. This burnout is what usually provides the motivation to change our lives for the better.”
Hello! My name is Geanette and I am a “frequent flyer”. Recovering and learning to enjoy each moment without “flying”, allow change and release control.
As Sharon Salzberg kindly shares… “To see things as they are, to see the changing nature, to see the impermanence, to see that constant flow of pleasant and painful events outside our control — that is freedom.” I am feeling more freedom each day, however, I will ask forgiveness in advance and apologize again and again as I learn to share my feelings without erupting loudly in the middle of restaurants, confronting fears without tact and interrupting a kind listener because I just reached some epiphany.
Hello! My name is Geanette and I am a “frequent flyer” who is finding the balance , wisdom and understanding of what it means to have my feet on the ground.
THE OPENING OF EYES
by David Whyte
That day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.
It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.
It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.
