On 03 August 2016, I took my first flight back up in the skies. The waiting. I thought it would never arrive. It was like standing in a departure lounge watching everything pass by, feeling no real emotion until it was my turn.
The night before, I prepared my uniform and soon found myself back into the familiar routine of getting my bags packed and ready to go out. I couldn’t sleep and I had a 2:45am wake up time. I was excited. I was nervous. I was ready.
Since we moved earlier in the year, I no longer live within that short, ten minute drive to the airport. I now had to drive an hour. I almost felt annoyed with that feeling but now that I reflect back on that morning, it was good to drive for an hour and listen to my tunes, unwind and prepare myself mentally. No, my job is not hard but when you have been out for an extended amount of time, you have this ‘out of the loop’ feeling. It didn’t take me long before I was on the employee bus headed to the terminal, going through security, getting to my gate and taking my 486 mph ride to work!
Settling back into my routine was easy. Seeing my colleagues in the terminals and the crew room, a welcoming hug from my base supervisor and I even met a few new people as well. My crew was just insanely perfect! We had such a blended chemistry that even the passengers noticed how much we all loved our jobs. That kind of behavior is infectious and what better way to have it on my first trip back to work!
As always, I ‘mingled’ with the passengers. I have a job to do when I get on the aircraft and I do that with diligence because there is much going on at one time during our boarding process. It is also a time to observe my passengers. For many, their facial expressions seem to speak in volumes. As a flight attendant, I don’t pry into their business but I do approach with the demeanor that begins to allow them to open up to me. A welcome place, if you will, to tell me what is going on with them at the moment. Sometimes it’s easy to see and sometimes, its just a simple hello that opens up a vault of information. I don’t know if that is also because I am a hairstylist and lets face it…we all tell our secrets to the hairstylist! I am that vault, for a short moment in time for some of these people and I don’t mind. We all need an outlet for venting.
So here I am, back on board doing what I love to do the most (outside of being a mom which is my all time favorite). For four days, its a sea of strangers faces all looking at me, depending upon me for guidance, help and safety. It’s truly one of the most comfortable places for me. I know that may sound insane and it probably is but it’s my element. It’s where I belong. The six months prior, while on the ground were like a living hell on many levels. Now, I feel I can breathe again. Like a new life has been pumped into me. I have new plans, new directions and seeking to give myself more happiness than I have ever had before.
If I could go in depth on what some of my personal experiences have been with life, it would be more of a book than a blog but keep your eyes and ears posted….you never know when the book will come out. Looking back, I know there are some who can not understand why I love what I do and there are some who know it’s everything to me. I take none of it for granted. God is in control and during the six months I was out of work, I learned some valuable lessons about people, situations, humanity and how we should all be forgiving because lets face it…it’s not always about us. They are lessons that help me be a better human being not only in my own personal life but also when I put on that uniform and represent being a flight attendant for my airline.
Before I left for my trip, I had a brief but meaningful conversation with a wonderful friend. It started with ‘I love you’. Now let me tell you, when a friend can profess their love for you, that is a wonderful friend to have. When our conversation was over, it was a home hitter for me. I realized that some of the things they said to me, they were spot on. I pondered on that for a bit…a week actually. So fast forward and here I am on the plane. All of my in-flight duties had been taken care of and as I stand in the aft galley, looking toward the fwd galley, just thanking God for all He has done for me….there it was. The passenger sitting in seat 21C was reading on her iPad. As I glanced down (she had it in large print) I seen these words ‘Do not let the behaviors of others, destroy your inner peace’. Wow. It was literally along the lines of what the conversation I had with my friend a week prior.
You see, I had been trying to move on with some things in my life but I couldn’t seem to get it just right. I needed to let go of some things, to forgive, to see past the hurt and the wrong doings. Once again, not only did a close friend share with me words of wisdom but I also got confirmation through a stranger who was sitting in seat 21c. It was then and there that I took a deep breathe, exhaled slowly, straightened up my uniform, poised myself and did another cabin check with more pride, love and grace than ever before…and with every passenger I checked on, I was letting go in my mind. Not sure if I should contribute that to some sort of ADD where I am all over the place yet can function exceptionally well when it is like that or if I am just that well rounded to multitask…LOL. Whatever the case may be with that, all I know is that when I am grounded, I can’t see too much in front of me but when I am up there in the sky, I begin to see things a lot more clearer…one altitude at a time.
Peace, Love & Hugs
Christian ♥
The Sun Will Set To Rise 