Practice Flight

Thinking of this post reminds me of Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant. "Kid, if you want to do good. . ."

It'll be a long flight to and from South Africa -- 18 hours is the advertised duration. I think that there is a scheduled refueling after about 9 hours on that little part of Africa that juts out to the west and used to match up with Central and South America.

Word on the street is that the flight will become a little less crowded as some people de-plane.

I hear that there are on-demand movies on board, so that'll make the time pass a little quicker. Of course, if one is watching a movie, then one is not sleeping and that might make customs and the bus ride's time pass a little slower. If only I could have some type of constant reminder that waiting around, slowly moving, and being (in my American mind) not too efficient was ok, it would be (well) ok.

Ironically, I was at Chicago O'Hare today and witnessed people being stressed out, not relating, and just (basically) surviving -- lots of people -- and it seems if there was some type of required down time for each person, each day, then all things would be better. Kind of like a forced nap. [sidenote, I just realized that none of our kids are or have been in schools where they have to take a nap -- I remember taking "forced" naps in cots.]

So, I wonder if when I am in Africa and when I am (hopefully) completing good and meaningful work (on houses, co-workers, and myself), I'll be able to step back, take stock, and truly sieze the moment, releash the moment -- even the bad ones. Perhaps even think, "OK, what do I need to learn here? What is the lesson that Life has tried to teach me several times, but I haven't gotten yet? Wouldn't being un-frustrated be better?"

If and when I do really get it -- all of it -- will I look back and just shake my head at how naive or short-sighted I was? Will others that already really get it, say "You know, we wanted to and even tried to tell you, but ultimately, we knew that you would have to learn it on your own. We're glad that you have learned it."