Quiet Moment

I had an "oh my" moment today when I took myself by surprise. As I boarded the flight from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis, I doused myself in a despicable amount of self-pity. I thought, "woe is me" as I just had battled through two sleepless nights and was about to embark on the seventh leg of my journey. I asked the road warrior gods to shed some relief on me. And I worked myself into a frenzied state of anguish and to the point of needing to make a call. I wanted to call my wife for sympathy and comfort. I reached for my phone to dial her number and then a lightening bolt hit me. I never hit send as I heard one side of a conversation from the man in 13B.

The man in the seat next to me was on the phone with his understandably frenzied wife. While I am not one to drop in on another's conversation, his voice was loud and clear and the conversation was unavoidable. And he was working hard to comfort his wife. Apparently he had been recently diagnosed with what sounded like a challenging form of cancer. He told his wife that he was not worried....that his energy and his faith would carry him through. He reminded her of the hope that the doctor offered and he reminded her of his will to live and the strength of his faith. I could go on but surely you get the point. This man had reason to anguish yet he was strong.

I sat quite still the rest of the flight and reflected on the blessings of my life. I apologized to myself for my "moment" and I reminded myself that my "issues" have always paled in comparison to others. As I left the plane I spoke with him up the jet-way and into the terminal. We did not talk about his health. But this man came across as a champion and his zest for life was strong. I walked away convinced of that which he told his wife..."that this was a minor bump in the path of his life". He had convinced me that he not only had the will but the way to carry on.

This is a journal of my days and, yet, I hesitate to tell this story as some may find it depressing. But this is offered for the opposite reason. It is offered as a story of belief and courage and hope and the will to carry on. And this chance encounter provided me a reminder of the importance of perspective and to cherish the blessings and health that I have.

I took this when I awoke prior to sunsrise and it is a good thing I did or I likely would have been blipless. It is the harbor of Marina del Rey, California and this was the view from the balcony of my hotel bedroom. Please see it in large if you have time.....the details of the image pop much better when viewed big.

Thank you for the overwhelming kindness to my blip of yesterday. LA is an image rich city for sure. I am sorry I did not spend much time on blip today but the real world took over.