If ever you loose faith in humanity take time to visit the International Welcome Gate at the airport.
When we get off a day long flight a smiling face is all we need to remember the reason we endure our long and frustrating journey. We arrive at our destination with engaged hope for what is to come and spirits lifted. Limitless opportunity is met with the genuine kindness in the face of an old friend. Kids fly into their Daddy's arms and run rough shot through the terminal after being couped up for a fort night. I did not see frustration in the faces of the weary worldly travelers but rather a humble thanks for being home safe or for having arrived at a new opportunity.
Why then is our return to the airport different? Stress over making our flight on time, traffic, our outworn welcome and the need to get out of a friend's hair...tears for a love lost and a last trip to a place for which we once held high hopes.
The journeys we embark upon in life are set before us as the pages in a long story; some will be front page news and others a word in the appendix. I struggled through traffic to get to the airport, paid too much for parking, and waited in a crowded area with swine flu paranoid strangers. On top of this, my best friend was held up in customs and I was forced to leave back to my busy life without seeing him. Time and money lost and an opportunity to provide my courageous pal much needed validation missed. But the human compassion of my fellow travelers could not keep me from smiling.
If we understand that each arrival is a new opportunity and that we are always moving from one new thing to the next; maybe we can find the beauty in every action. Each time we step into uncertainty we challenge ourselves to create something new. Every time we fail to stray we miss a chance to move forward. If we are constantly 'arriving' then there is never a reason to look back but only forward.
The way home is always less exciting but once we have taken a path the walk back seems shorter.
- Dave
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