I had an interesting experience during our flight to Hawaii. Let’s call it an exercise in extreme gratitude.
Interesting isn’t my preferred descriptor for air travel—I prefer uneventful—but I’ve found that Trans-Pacific flights have a tendency toward the former. There we were, rocking and rolling like we were riding the Soviet-era rails in Eastern Europe, but at 32,000 feet. For two hours.
Truth be told, I wasn’t even counting. I’d estimated the turbulence to have lasted at least an hour when I turned to Mr. Watson and he replied, “More like two.” Since he’s the engineer, I defaulted to his calculations.
“Can’t the pilot find another altitude?,” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, “It’s different over the open ocean. I’m not sure who he’d call to request that.” Since my better half is also a private pilot, I had to defer to him there as well.
Our fellow passengers were surprisingly calm. We’ve been on prior Trans-Pacific flights where people pray, panic, and exclaim during the turbulence. This time, it was my turn.
I was already feeling nauseated—getting up at 4am after only a couple of hours of sleep tends to leave me that way—and the bouncing and pitching was threatening the sanctity of my breakfast. The sanctity of it remaining breakfast, anyway.
As I returned attention to my audio book, Oprah Winfrey’s What I Know For Sure, she began speaking about gratitude. The chapter starts with a quote from Meister Eckhart, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘Thank You,’ it will be enough.” It’s one I’ve long admired.
Oprah explains: “Being grateful all the time isn’t easy but it’s when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you.
“Perspective: Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It is the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life. This I know for sure.
“Here’s the gift of gratitude: In order to feel it, your ego has to take a backseat. What shows up in its place is greater compassion and understanding. Instead of being frustrated, you choose appreciation. And the more grateful you become, the more you have to be grateful for.
“Maya Angelou was so right [when she taught Oprah this]. Whatever you’re going through, you will do just that: Go through it. It will pass, so say ‘thank you’ now because you know the rainbow is coming.”
I did as she suggested. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and breathed deeply and deliberately, in and out, repeating “thank you” in my head, a silent mantra while I continued to listen to Oprah’s soothing alto move on to stories of dieting and self-acceptance. I don’t know how long I breathed, focusing on my gratitude, but eventually I fell asleep.
When I awakened, we were through the turbulence and my nausea had passed. The metaphorical rainbow had appeared.
Of course, Oprah’s next chapter detailed her own travails with Trans-Pacific travel, but I’ll let you read the book for that one. Suffice to say that her gratitude lesson was perfectly apropos.
When was the last time you practiced gratitude? Has it ever helped you through an urgent time?
Cheers,
