Starting 2016
My 2016 has been off to a peculiar start. I’m not going to get into any specifics, but let’s just say that it was an interesting lens from which I am going to plan a 2016 to be better with each day that passes.
My resolution is to be a better me with each passing day. This isn’t in terms of changing my physique, my knowledge, or anything else very specific. It is a generalization that each night I want to go to bed thinking ‘I gave today my all, and that is more than I gave yesterday’.
To try to adhere to this, I’m going to try to capture a moment of each day this year. Each moment will have some form of me reflecting on the past, maturing as a person, or some other profound concept that makes taking note of the moment worth it.
Today I flew to Las Vegas. It’s for a conference so that I can learn more things and hopefully kick-start some of my own products (hardware & software) later this year. In doing so, my best option was to fly on New Years Day.
While waiting for my flight, the attendants asked if anyone would be willing to give up their seat as the flight was overbooked. The offer was a refund and $300 of credit towards future flights. In the few seconds I debated wether to volunteer, several people lined up, each with their own questions, but each eager to volunteer.
Finally it got to boarding time and as boarding group A lined up I realized, “Shit, I forgot to put on my compression socks.” So I quickly put the socks on in front of the gate and had enough time to stand in line in the correct spot.
I got on the plane and took a seat in the last row, on the right-wing side aisle seat so that I could stand and easily flex my left foot that has had circulation issues in the past. We were moments from closing the door and there was a single seat open on the plane, the one next to mine.
I exchanged glances with a kind woman who was knitting a hat. We were both happy to have lucked out and have an empty seat between us. Moments later, an elderly woman was being rushed down the aisle. She almost missed the flight due to being unable to speak english very well and had no idea the plane was about to leave.
She sat down in the middle seat and spoke on the phone in a language I could not pick out. She ended her call saying ‘I love you’ and then sat patiently in her seat.
I started to listen to a Headspace meditation session while the plane was still on the tarmac. As I was listening with headphones on, I could over-hear the woman next to me. It sounded like she was chanting something. She was praying.
The plane took off. My eyes were closed. Out of nowhere, the woman grabbed my arm tightly, leaned her head on my should, and started praying much louder in the same foreign language I could not understand.
I took off my headphones, looked at my arm that had been grasped, and then looked at the woman next to me. I noticed she also had grabbed the other woman seated to her right. The woman next to us was clearly frightened and starting to freak out. We both re-assured her everything was fine. When we were finally in the air, she told us ‘Thank you’ in a broken english sort of way.
I thought back to November, when I flew to Miami with my husband. He dislikes flying even more than I do and he squeezes my hand during take-off/landing. In the moments after the woman next to me let go of me, I thought of how my husband was comforted by my embrace. I remember how I could feel his pulse as he squeezed my hand. The memory was warm, fuzzy, and made me smile. Although I was traveling alone, I truly wasn’t.
While I was having these warm thoughts, the plane experienced some turbulance and the woman next to me started to shout, nearly crying. I grabbed her hand and held it. She immediately calmed and continued to just pray. After we went through several bouts of turbulence, she looked at me, said ‘Thank you’ again, and seemed happy throughout the rest of the flight.
Moments before landing, I had figured she would be anxious. She grabbed my arm and the other passenger to her right again and she started praying again. Upon landing, she thanked us, grabbed her phone, called someone and told them ‘Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah …’ and many more words I didn’t understand. She then went to use the restroom and I briefly spoke to the woman in the window seat. She thanked me for being kind to the woman in-between us and mentioned how her best friend had the same troubles with flying.
I’m now at the hotel after being checked in, nourished, and had some time to reflect. I don’t know who this woman was, but I’m happy to know that I made what may have been her first, or whatever flight it was, more tolerable. It brought back warm memories that made me happy and ultimately I feel like I’ve done the right thing.