Flight lesson 1: What?! I can be a Know-It-All?
This is post 2 in a 4 part series that I’ve dubbed Flight Lessons. I will be sharing important life lessons I learned while traveling abroad this last month.
Last week when I was traveling I came to a shocking realization, I can be a know-it-all. My sister nearly fell off her chair laughing when I confessed. Apparently it’s not a secret. Before I go into details I want to share a sweet story I heard on the Tara Brach podcast. At its essence I think it conveys the truth of how travel can serve as an incubator for growth.
One day while in a park an old man came across a young girl crying because she lost her doll. Together they searched and searched but found no trace of it. He promised to keep looking so she returned a few days later. While the old man didn’t find the doll, he did hand her a note,“I’ve gone off to travel the world, please don’t worry about me.” For the next few months, every time the young girl came to the park he had a new note sharing adventures from the doll’s travels. Finally, when it was obvious he was getting too sick to go to the park, he surprised her by handing her a new doll. The little girl was amazed and elated as he explained that the adventures from traveling completely transformed her into something new.
Now to my rude awakening. A few days into our trip I discovered a personal behavior pattern. I rolled my eyes when a family member asked our tour guides or a local about something that I had already provided an answer that I apparently thought made sense. What’s worse is the pattern was followed by another…Often my “clever” explanations were just plain wrong. Gads!
Why was I exhibiting this behavior in the first place? It’s utterly ridiculous on so many levels that are obvious to anyone. I tried to write-off my insane behavior on the 3-4 hours of sleep I was getting, the stress of lost luggage…you know the list of excuses can go on. But after seeing my sister’s response, I have to accept the truth that it isn’t just a recent development. Damn it.
After noticing this unfortunate habit, I started to consciously try to change my behavior. When I did, I observed the energy around us became more fluid because I wasn’t trying to control others or the situation. Not only did I enjoy myself more, I found that I wasn’t stressing others out as much either. I still have work to do. But I can see where curbing this behavior can lead.
How does this relate to energy work? My belief is that energy work can help you become more open to self-awareness. It can help you prepare to make minor changes in your life. When you look at all the changes in aggregate, you find that you are in a completely different space or frequency from when you first started.
Now I need to make sure I continue to integrate this new awareness into my everyday life. Here goes!
