A Leap of Faith

In the space of 8 days I took 4 flights to visit 3 countries. At the outset this seemed really exciting. I set off from Antigua to St Vincent on Tuesday 5th and within a few days I was getting headaches. By St Lucia it had progressed to a cold virus and by the time I’d reached Miami the following Tuesday, I’d gone deaf in one ear.

It was the descent into Miami that caused the deafness. I was desperately searching in my bag for some sweets that I’d been given during my flight out of the UK a few weeks before. I don’t really do sweets but I’d kept them because they were Love Hearts – cute sweets with little messages on, circa 1980. Anyway, I couldn’t find them so had to endure the discomfort.

The next day I felt even worse, assisted by certain irritating facilities in a dodgy hotel - ironically named Best Miami Hotel. (I never thought it would be ‘the best’ – indeed anything or anyone that feels the need to call themselves ‘the best’ quite possibly isn’t – but I needed to make a quick booking for convenience.) I didn’t have time to organise myself properly but I did manage to find my Love Hearts. Small blessings!

At the airport I felt really light-headed as if I might pass out. By the time I was on the flight I was completely out of it, to a degree that made me feel extremely anxious. It was a 5 ½ hour flight and I tried various mental techniques to overcome the unpleasant feelings. Trouble was my brain just wasn’t functioning well.

Writing often helps to focus my attention, realise things and also master my mind. It was while I was writing I recalled from past experiences that any anxiety I feel is caused / increased by resistance to what is. What I needed to do was surrender to what I was feeling.

So I worked with that theory, as well as all the other ideas that were popping in and out of my consciousness. But I kept forgetting what I was supposed to be focusing on. I needed something more simple.

Finally I got it. My internal dialogue had been too stressed. Beneath every intention to feel different I’d been saying No. Instead I needed to say Yes. This is something I used to do as part of a morning routine, repeating the word over and over. The word Yes has a really powerful energy and can quickly affect how you feel.

About 5 minutes later the plane began to descend - my nightmare trip was about to end. I’d be collected at the airport, taken to my new home, be fed, watered and given a proper bed to sleep in, for as long as I wanted. To prevent further deafness I reached for my packet of Love Hearts, opened it and took the first one out. What do you reckon was written on it?

SAY YES!