My MOM shared the story of my first airplane flight many times over the years, it was in 1963 during the jet age. She enjoyed telling me how I walked on the plane confidently and seemed to have no fears about it. At a young age, I seemed to take control of the situation.
I worked in over 20 countries during my corporate career and traveled to nearly 50 more locations for some of the most amazing vacations.
When I reflect on those trips, I see the young boy who grew up to be confident and in control both in the skies and in some of the most intimidating airports in the world.
During my first trips to airports like ATL, LAX, and ORD; I was overwhelmed and intimidated until I realized that I had the experience from other airports to find my groove as it were.
In time, I looked forward to layovers in these hub cities so that I could explore every crook and cranny.
I went on to develop an expertise in some of the busiest airports in the world such as LHR, PVG, HKG, and DXB. I fell into a sense of control when I was in any of these or any other massively busy airports.
My husband and I just finished our first vacation trip in over two years, due to the COVID pandemic. It was like getting back on the horse after the long hiatus.
As the start of the trip came closer, I immediately went into control mode and made sure everything was checked and rechecked in terms of documents and required COVID test results. That sense of control over a seemingly out of my hands experience made me feel empowered.
We made our way to Ecuador with ease and comfort, just experiencing a delayed departure out of MEX which had no impact on our arrival plans in UIO.
As the trip neared its end, both my husband and I became ill with a bug-not COVID related. He seemed to bounce back quicker than me and was good at getting himself physically and emotionally ready for the flights home. I on the other hand struggled with some symptoms that could have had a negative impact on my stamina to make the trip.
I made the decision that I was going to go forward with the itinerary as planned for the trip home. And in doing so, I shared with my husband that I was going to ask for a wheelchair to get me around in the airports. He was very supportive and told me that he would do whatever I needed to make it easier on me to fly home.
I could barely get the words out in Spanish or English when it came time to ask the counter agent for a wheelchair. I knew the words in both languages, however, my mind was yelling at me about the loss of control that I would experience when I got in the wheelchair.
Was I really ready to let go of control over something that I had invested several decades in perfecting?
Turns out, my body won the argument that my mind had waged against me. I was about to find out what it was like to just go with the flow when it came to air travel in the new post COVID pandemic realities and requirements.
When the attendant brought the chair for me to get into, I took a deep breath and sat down in it. I felt a release in that moment that scared me and excited me at the same time.
I am very adventurous by nature and was once in the wheelchair ready for what was going to come next.
I learned these three life lessons by being present while in the wheelchair.
1. Ease-Life is supporting me in making things go smoothly, my thoughts are the only things that get in the way of it.
2. Effort-Driving and doing don’t make things happen any faster or better, I can achieve outcomes by exerting less energy.
3. Efficiency-Control is not the only element of getting things done, by empowering others to do what they do best you might find new ways to experience a process’ purpose.
The most profound reflection for me was when I thought back on how people looked at me or interacted with me while I was in the wheelchair.
Many glared at me in a very judgmental way and in fact gave me the ojo on more than one occasion. There seemed to be very few who gave me a supportive or empathetic glance.
Living outside of my comfort zone has always been for my own growth and development, and this experience did not let me down with its abundance of lessons.
What can you do when letting go of control to support yourself?
Can you find comfort in the uncomfortable experiences?
How can you resolve the internal arguments between your mind and body?
With much gratitude…
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This post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Shutterstock
