Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Getting it right


Repositioning! Repositioning! The plane immediately started going up fast…. The silence was so thick that it could be cut with a razor blade! Then it was abruptly ended with the different passengers’ reactions, some cried, some laughed, while others were shaking and others were busy praying. None knew what was going on and did not dare to ask, the plane was still going up and up, and then it made what it seemed a slow 90 degrees turn… I did not understand what was happening, all I knew was that the landing was suddenly aborted and we were flying in circles. We had been getting ready to land, everything looked normal and I was just starting to anticipate the feeling of relief I always get when we finally “touch ground”. But life had something different in store for me!! What I always fear was happening and there was nothing I could do about it.
A strange calm took over me as I remembered a sentence from the book I was reading on the flight: “God gave us the strength to overcome the things we cannot change” At that moment I was fully aware that whatever has to happen will happen no matter what I did! I started doing my Hatha Yoga breathing to connect with myself while accepting the inevitable. My mind was soundless as my soul took charge. After what seemed hours (probably 10 minutes) we could feel the pilot attempting to land, then the mortal silence conquered once again. People were holding onto their seats as if their lives depended on it, until the plane finally landed. As soon as it touched ground, everybody started talking at the same time, many were saying: “I was busy praying as this was the only thing I could do!”…
By sure everybody on the plane was praying to their God at the same time. Why do we all remember our faith at times of adversity? When we are in danger or facing troubles we all pray, given that this is the only thing that brings calm and relief to our spirits. We instantly forget the “important things in life”: the car we own, the house we want to have, the iPhone we got to impress, etc, etc. We do not call upon our precious mobile phone for moral support! At that very moment anything material stops existing, losing all relevance, since all that matters is: “I’m going to die!” Therefore we connect with our soul and start regretting all the things we have not done: talking with our mother, going camping with the children, saying “I’m sorry” to our sister, wasting time on the job we hated instead of going for what we really loved, etc, etc. With an unbelievable efficiency we are able to highlight our deepest feelings in a matter of seconds, while realizing we were spending our time perusing the material things. Becoming fully aware that our happiness was not relaying on them…
I got out of the plane still lost within my deepest self but present enough to notice people’s behaviors. I tried to perceive whether their normal conduct was influenced by our scaring experience or not. The frighten voice of the Captain were still resonating in my mind: Repositioning! Repositioning! Was this a clue from the Universe? Was it a message that we needed to reposition ourselves? Was it telling us: Watch out, remember who you are! Showing us that we can miss the objective but we still have the chance to reposition while searching for the perfect landing and getting it right!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The story is excellent as it connects us with reality in terms of the little things we forget to do until we are in a crises.This story teaches lessons of the need to treat people ie our children, parents and friends right rather than resonating when we are caughtb up in a quagmire.
Garb, Keep it you are helping many realise reality.

Gabriela Abalo said...

Thank u for the encouraging comment. I'm glad to know that my tale touched you.

Love
Gabi

Anonymous said...

This story explains that you dont know what you have untill you lose it. You can care about your i-phone and spen endless hours on it and not realise that your loved ones are getting older and changing. Then all of a sudden when you are about to die, you realize that you never got to know your loved one because of that mobile.

Regards Manani

Gabriela Abalo said...

Thank u Manani, your comment is very much appreciated.
Love
Gabi

Sherry Bakhtian said...

A friend of mine wrote on Facebook: "Recalculating" which is what the Garmin GPS system lady likes to say when we don't follow her instructions. Your story reminds me of that, sometimes we need something like your experience to remind us of what really matters. Repositioning, recalculating, whatever it is you want to call it. What I also think is so incredible is that in those moments, we surrender when we pray, we admit that we don't have the answers. For me that is magical, because I rarely like to give up control ;-)!

Thanks Gabi, for sharing your insight!

Love,
Sherry

Gabriela Abalo said...

Your comment reminded me of my last trip to Cape Town with my husband, he rented a car and proudly installed his GPS, saying to me: “with this we will reach at once to any point we want to go”… then the dear lady from the GPS keep saying: “recalculating, recalculating”. I had to tried very hard not to laugh every time I looked at my husband face… he hated the idea of someone reminding him every 5 minutes he has taken the wrong turn!

My experience was scaring, but it was also a blessing in disguise, it actually helped me to re-evaluate my priorities.

Thank you Sherry for your continuous support

Love
Gabi

Unknown said...

I like this story, its a reminder that we should always remember whats most important to us, and keep them/it close, in good and in bad times...family, faith, friends...whatever it may be.

Gabriela Abalo said...

Dear Tazi,
So true, we tend to forget we are spiritual beings while searching for happiness on the material things. Sadly many of us only realized our mistake when it seems to be so late or when the Universe slaps us on the face.

Love
Gabi.

Bunda said...

Crisis and adversity have a way of making us see reality for what it is, here rubber meets tar. When we see death only then the most important things in life remain. It is here God becomes very important knowing we are no longer in control.

Very inspiring....Gabi

Gabriela Abalo said...

Thank u dear Bunda,

The funny thing is that we are never in control, but we believe we really are! :)

Love
Gabi