Monday, January 30, 2012

Maui or Oahu (and the present moment)

How about both! Shortly after taking off from Sacramento, we were informed that we were going to Oahu rather than Maui due to an anti-skid warning light and a much longer runway in Oahu. I'm not sure but I think worse things have happened :) Now we would get to see three of the Hawaiian islands instead of just two. Granted spending only a few hours at the Honolulu airport hardly constitutes seeing Oahu but flying into it and seeing it from the air was pretty cool.

For most if us, a situation like this is pretty easy to accept and even enjoy, especially in me and Nicole's life where having a schedule to follow is as foreign as it gets :) I don't remember there being an upset person on the entire plane even though we were delayed three hours getting to our destination. Being that our destination was what most people consider paradise and we were diverted to another paradise I think helped the situation, but why?

What puts us in a more forgiving attitude than we usually possess?

Why is it easier to get to Maui via Oahu rather than Chicago via North Dakota? Is it really that different?

Lately I've been reading a book that is revolutionizing my life (A New Earth by Eckhard Tolle). It talks a lot about being completely immersed in the present moment. There is so little we truly have control of in life. Instead of fighting against or trying to change what already is (the present) what if we decided to fully accept it in whatever form it takes in that moment?

I don't think that being diverted to Oahu rather than North Dakota is very different at all, but our perspective of each can differ quite a bit, causing very different reactions.

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