You are the calm, not the storm
Traveling is stressful. It is anxiety driven and a constant rushing of time. The painful security checks with apparel removal and the madness of everyone’s heightened insecurities. The dashing to the departing flights, the exercise to run between terminals, the aromas of all the fast tracked restaurants all play a role in the experiences of traveling anywhere beyond the end of your driveway. Missing a connecting flight has also become quite common place in this day in age. This happened to me recently as I landed at an airport and despite my sprinting from terminal to terminal with a back pack and suitcase on my head I arrived 5 minutes prior to the plane having closed their doors and waved goodbye as I stood gasping and furious with the realization that I had missed the last flight out of the airport. I was directed to customer service with the hopes that I could get another flight that night, yet with the sinking feeling that I was staying overnight and looking to fly the following day. I met a service representative who was calmly directing each person to their overnight hotel stay and helping them to get to their destinations the following day.
I would not want this woman’s job. Everyone on the other side of her counter was tired, hungry, frustrated, angry, disappointed and not where they were supposed to be. Yet despite their blatant tears, anger, loud words against the airline, she held her calm, her peace, and her poise and explained that there was nothing more that she could do to help them at that time except get them a night of rest at a hotel, transportation and get them on their next flight as soon as possible even though it was for the next day. She was a wall of balance. Nothing could shake her determination to help. She had limited resources to help with, but what was in her power was her ability to react. She didn’t. People screamed, shouted, got upset, yet she very peacefully said ” I understand you are upset but this is all that I can do for you right now.” Sometimes that is all the person in front of you needs to hear. That they have been heard. This extinguishes the fire of reaction, versus fueling it with more action and reactionary cycles.
So often we are confronted with the negative flood of emotions of others, whether a family member, a friend, a stranger, a customer, a patient, a coworker and many others on our journeys. It is how we choose to react that can make or break our spirit at that moment. You and I do not need to be sucked into the vortex of anyone else’s storm. Yet it is only through digging into your roots and keeping your “wall of calm” strong, that any situation can be resolved and healed. Grief, anger, hatred, frustration or belligerence can all be faced against your wall of calm.
Remember that you are stronger than anything that tries to uproot you. How you maintain that strength is up to you.
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I love you
