I missed my flight home today. Hence me writing this blog post in the middle of Boston’s Logan International Airport. This has never happened to me before and let’s just say it wasn’t a pretty picture when I realized that my 19-hour trip home from (of course because where else) Israel was going to be much longer than that.
It was a scheduling issue. I landed in Boston at 5:30am and was scheduled to fly out at 7am. I was told right before my flight to Boston that I would have to check-in my luggage again at my layover (which took more time than I had). Although I mentioned my concern about not having enough time to get to my gate for my flight to New Jersey, I was assured by three different people that I would indeed make it. I retrieved my luggage from the belt at only 6:30am and got through security (after asking the nice couple in the front if I can cut in front of them (and the 50 other people behind them-sorry😪)) at 6:45am. After running to the gate with all of my (many) things, it had been too late and I was way over it- tired, overwhelmed, cranky, and extremely emotional. Let’s just saw there was some wheezing (I’m an avid runner, but my anxiety was through the roof) and lots of tears. Not that this was that big of a deal, but it was just all of the factors that built up to that moment.
I was rescheduled to a flight that leaves 5 hours after my original and it has taken me 3 hours to realize what a blessing this is. Not only has G-d given me an opportunity to spend some time writing which I haven’t had the chance to do in a very long time, but he also placed a rocking chair at my gate!!! Anyone who knows me knows that I am sort of obsessed with rocking chairs- is there any better way to relax?! And at my gate? Only at my gate. I’ve had quite some time to walk around this airport today and even chill at random gates and had not seen any other rocking chair. This is the only rocking chair I have ever seen at an airport (if you have seen one at an airport before don’t tell me because I sort of want to believe this is God’s gift to me😂).
Not only that but as I was walking to my gate (for the second time 2.5 hours later), I heard one of my favorite songs playing overhead that I haven’t listened to in a while. “Cause you are not alone. And I am there with you. And we'll get lost together. Til the light comes pouring through. Cause when you feel like you're done. And the darkness has won. Babe, you're not lost. When the world's crashing down. And you can not bear to crawl. I said, baby, you're not lost.”
It’s just so crazy how this is exactly what I needed though it was the last thing I could have ever thought I could want. G-d has given me an opportunity to slow down and take a breather. If I had made that flight, I would not have had the opportunity to sit down, chill, and slow the heck down because I would not have given myself that chance. I am always go-go-go… and after a week and a half of traveling in Israel for purposes not related to vacation as many might assume- I really needed to just stop and relax after a hectic week of traveling. So G-d gave it to me, and He has made it clear in so many ways.
I figured I would share this because it's so common for us to focus on the fact that things didn’t go our way, that we fail to realize that perhaps they went in the best way possible for us after all… and that there is Someone out there looking out for us, many times saving us from ourselves. All we need to do is notice it.
Added: I just realized that this all came full circle. On my way to Israel, I watched Whinny the Poo (don't make fun of me)! One of the messages from the movie that I really appreciated was that nothing is sometimes the best type of something (on the idea that doing nothing creates space for many things that are important to consider in life). Besides having the time to write this blog post, I have also had a great opportunity to do nothing of major value, which is generally very hard for me to do. I do not consider flying to be included in this time because I am not the best flyer and my time flying is usually extremely unproductive. This time doing nothing created the space for me to think about the fundamental ideas I wrote about in this blog post. This time doing "nothing" also gave me the time to decompress and, as I said, SLOW DOWN. So essentially I have been given the opportunity at the end of my trip to practice the lesson I picked up at the beginning of my trip :)
Added: I just realized that this all came full circle. On my way to Israel, I watched Whinny the Poo (don't make fun of me)! One of the messages from the movie that I really appreciated was that nothing is sometimes the best type of something (on the idea that doing nothing creates space for many things that are important to consider in life). Besides having the time to write this blog post, I have also had a great opportunity to do nothing of major value, which is generally very hard for me to do. I do not consider flying to be included in this time because I am not the best flyer and my time flying is usually extremely unproductive. This time doing nothing created the space for me to think about the fundamental ideas I wrote about in this blog post. This time doing "nothing" also gave me the time to decompress and, as I said, SLOW DOWN. So essentially I have been given the opportunity at the end of my trip to practice the lesson I picked up at the beginning of my trip :)