Preface: You realize the level of commitment you have when the number of flights it takes to get to where you are going is just straight irrelevant. This is one long yellow brick road.
2 flights down, 1 to go. The end is in sight. Once I get there it will be a grand total of 26 hours travel time. Don’t say anything. I am now kicking back in transit in Auckland, New Zealand (my home town) waiting for the final batten changeover to Australia. It feels like I’m home, sort of, but it feels foreign to me too. Uh, the million dollar question rears its head again – Home is…question mark? I can’t even leave the airport so there is no way to know whether Auckland has truly welcomed me back.
R.I.P for now.
I am sitting in the airport, looking around, feeling slightly dazed, glasses on-my eyes can barely focus. Have you ever wondered the stories of each traveler that you sit in the midst of? All of us waiting, watching so eagerly for the monitors to change, much like someone waiting for a package in the mail. “Any moment now” we think. All of us share that unspoken nod, acknowledging without words that we are at the point of exhaustion. We have sought refuge, as we wait; sprawled on airport furniture that just exudes comfort and restful activity – NOT.
Let’s be honest, 12 ½ hours in flight is a lot of time to kill. Did I mention that I had a whole row to myself on a full plane? I don’t know how He does it, but there are at least 5 miracles per trip. So is this a cause for celebration of self - question mark. No, this is cause for gratitude and then...more gratitude- full stop. (*American translation: "Period")
I may or may not have past some of the time watching snippets of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Don’t judge me. It’s a classic. Besides, It was either that or “The H*ngover?” or something like “Friends with Ben*fits?” Hmm. Decisions, decisions. As difficult as that choice was….yea, I think you get my drift.
I actually learnt some life lessons though (gear up for this.)
As it turns out Tiffany & Co is still a universal language? What? Ground breaking. Anyway, there was this one scene where they are in Tiffany’s and he wants to buy her something…wait, one minor detail… for under $10! “Look, I’m not a miracle worker” is what that shop assistant was thinking! Can you imagine if you went in there now and pitched that? You would be laughed out of that store faster than you could say “hire purchase?” (*New Zealand translation: "Layby") They then decide to take this junk ring that came out of a “Cracker Jack” box to be engraved by Tiffany’s. OK, OK, I see what you did there.
So what life lessons can be learnt from this?
First of all, whoever is in charge of the entertainment selection on the plane should be... cough, uh, spoken to gently?
Secondly, what do you do when life gives you lemons? Make lemonade? No – go to Tiffany’s. Hello.
Sometimes we are given tasks or obstacles that may seem impossible (Exhibit A: buying something from Tiffany’s for under $10!!!!) and the answer isn’t always what we might think (finding a “cheaper” diamond?) No. There is no such thing as a cheap diamond. Sometimes we have to think outside the box a little (getting a ring ENGRAVED by Tiffany’s) and maybe no one has ever done it that way before, but so what.
Oh, hang on a minute- but they have.
Building a boat to go to a place you've never been to? Travelling through an unknown route a.k.a the Red Sea? Oh yea, no big deal right? Wrong. Improvising with materials that have never been used quite that way before? “...therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness...”
Sometimes we have to find the “road less travelled” and “it will make all the difference”
(-Robert Frost)
I am on my road less travelled. I’ve never been here before – have you? I am clicking my heels together with eyes shut tight, chanting “there’s no place like Home.” Now, I just have to figure out where and what that is.
But there is one Home that we ALL hope to get to….
Now, go find your road less travelled.
No comments:
Post a Comment