Airports-12 Megan-0

This is your captain speaking. Welcome to my blog and thanks for reading. Make sure your seat belts are securely fastened and follow along as I take you from sentence to sentence of my most overwhelming day at an airport, or several airports rather. You shall arrive at your destination in about eight minutes, give or take turbulence; we’ll call it reading skills. For safety purposes please keep your seat backs and tray tables locked in the upright position. In case of emergency, I do not provide oxygen masks so if you laugh excessively from reading this I guess you are screwed.

Now, let’s embark on a journey. I’ve already mentioned it took place at an airport so let’s cut to the chase and skip the three and a half hour drive there, because that just involves heavy eyes, a cup of coffee and poor driving. So there I was at Omaha’s airport and honestly I should have known the moment security had to take my bag aside to remove my illegal six-ounce deadly bottle of face wash and proceed to throw it in the trash can right in front of my face, that maybe my day was not going to go according to plan. But I shook it off, sincerely told the lady to have a nice day and proceeded to my gate where I sat down and pulled out the book I’m reading on how to be successful. This book makes me feel good whenever I think about the fact that I just spent five years getting a degree and can’t find a job. Anyway, about two minutes later I ended up on facebook updating my status because I’m sure everyone was just dying to know what I was doing at noon on a Tuesday (We tell ourselves that at least).

So an hour later I boarded the plane and found my seat, buckled my seat belt and pulled out my feel good book and began reading when thirty eight seconds later a woman asked me if I would trade seats with her so she could sit by her little boy. Not a problem. I was ecstatic to have an aisle seat because for a tall girl that means legroom. I’m feeling pretty good about the switch when I look to my right and across the aisle I see a very small woman, (by small I don’t mean short but arms of toothpicks), couldn’t have been too much older than myself, with what looked to be a little one year old cheerio eater. Ah he was a cute one with a head full of hair and dimpled cheeks as he so awkwardly shoved the cheerios in his mouth and crunched away as babies do. I thought nothing of it really. It’s not like I had never seen a baby on an airplane before.

Some fifteen minutes later the captain gets on the loud speaker to announce there are some problems with the plane and they need to do some repairing before taking off. Well this didn’t surprise me because I have spent two hours sitting on a runway before so how bad could it be? I continue reading and begin to notice that cheerio boy is starting to get a bit fussy to my right. His mother, who could have probably hula hooped the cheerios he was eating stood up and began to walk around the cabin with him to try and calm him down. An hour later we are ready for take off. The woman who has successfully walked the boy to sleep begins to sit down when suddenly cheerio boy wakes up and begins to make noises that made me wish I had volume control on my ears. This boy was beginning to throw a tantrum. At first I went on reading my book like nothing was happening but with peripheral vision and a good set of ears I couldn’t help but become fidgety myself listening to the tornado siren next to me. I watched as the woman fought and struggled with the cheerio boy as he screamed and grunted and threw his head back on her chest as though he was suffering the worst of a seizure. This battle, that needed to be resolved with a nap, went on for about fifteen or twenty minutes. My right ear felt as though I had fired several shots from a rifle and cheerio boy and his mom were becoming awfully sweaty.

Finally a lady behind me stood up and said, “Honey let me take him for a bit and give you a break.” Without hesitation, toothpick mom hands her child over to the stranger and guzzles down a bottle of water with tears in her eyes. Cheerio boy’s screams only became worse and this went on for another ten minutes before the stranger gave up and gave the boy back. As soon as toothpick mom had her son back in her arms again he immediately became silent. Note to all mothers with babies: If your child is throwing a tantrum that you can’t seem to resolve hand him to a stranger and then he will have something to cry about. This way when the stranger hands him back, the child will be so glad to be back in your arms silence will overcome his sweaty cheerio eating body.

So I finally land in Chicago where my next flight would take off in a little over an hour. Only one problem, my next flight wasn’t going to be taking off at all because it was canceled. So I run to the customer service line to ask them to help me find a new flight but so did the other thirty people in front of me. I’m not really a fan of standing in lines. But thirty minutes later I made it to the front desk. And so I told the man my situation and he replies back to me, “So what?” I’m thinking to myself as I look at the extremely overweight man going bald behind the counter, “You must really hate your life if you are working for customer service and you reply with ‘so what’ when someone tells you their flight is canceled.” I knew I had two choices at this moment. I could get mad or get friendly. Getting annoyed, as I sometimes do, is quite a turnoff to people and in my experience has not got me anywhere. So I got friendly of course. This strategy backfired on me however because in my attempt to kill him with kindness I ended up getting to hear that he had a son who was my age that played baseball and could throw a 93 mph fast ball. He was telling me how he was going to make it to the pros and blah blah blah when the lady beside him said, “Dude she don’t care about that, she just wants to get on a plane! Help the poor girl out.” Then she proceeds to tell me that she also has a son that’s my age who is playing college football and trying to get into the NFL. So I leave the customer service desk with two possible prospects for husbands and no plane ticket. The best they could do was put me on standby.

In the mean time my aunt and uncle had called the United Airlines to try and work their magic. They had success. I was re booked to Milwaukee. Only one problem, the plane was leaving in about forty minutes and I still had to get to my gate that happened to be clear across the airport and then print off my new ticket. It was a zoo. As I weaved in and out of zebras, monkeys and elephants I began to panic. I finally reached my gate but surprise surprise there was a line to the help desk. I looked at the screen and it read, Milwaukee boarding in ten minutes. I made it to the front of the line just as everyone started boarding. I grabbed my ticket ran on the plane, or in this case a puddle jumper, and prepared myself for a twenty-five minute flight to Milwaukee.

After I arrived to Milwaukee I went to the first desk I could find and asked them to print me off a ticket to DC. The lady looked up my flight information and told me that I was switched from United to Frontier and needed to go talk to Frontier for a ticket. This meant that I had to go all the way back to the entrance where check-ins were to get a new ticket. How convenient this was, and when I say this I’m totally kidding. Because now my next flight was going to be leaving in an hour and I had to go back, re-check in and go through security for a second time before then proceeding to find my gate. Life is good. Let me just say again, from my experiences people at airports really act like they hate their jobs. Miss Frontier lady was very unfriendly. But after many exchanged dirty looks I received my new ticket and jetted up to security where I was greeted by a man who checked my license and told me he liked me better with my hair down. Gee thanks. I like myself better when I’m not stressed about airports sir, but your compliment or your attempt to give me a compliment just might help me make it through the day.

I finally get to my gate to then find out that my flight was delayed an hour and a half. I love flying. This was where I really wanted to hit up a bar in the airport and blow thirty dollars getting drunk, or go find the nearest McDonald's and comfort myself with a burger, fries and large Dr. Pepper. Instead I went and bought a salad and orange juice and sat down by the window, turned on my iTunes and watched the sunset, telling myself airports are all out of my control.

And two hours later I was finally on my way to DC. The crew on the plane felt bad for us so they came by and brought us cookies and milk and let us watch cable for free. This was almost worth it. Warm chocolate chip cookies compare to nothing else in this world. So I watched an episode of Intervention and Hoarders and thought again to myself, yes life is good. I landed in DC at 12:30, a little over 12 hours after arriving in Omaha. My uncle picked me up and we drove back to his house where I proceeded to crash into bed around 1:30am.

The next morning a boy in a red and yellow space suite with goggles greeted me at my bedside. “It’s time to wake up,” he said. “What are you wearing?”, I asked my soon to be eight year old cousin. “I’m a jet pack flier”, he claimed, “And I’ve flown here to wake you up for breakfast.”

Let's Forgive but I Won't Forget

You forgive me for missing you
And I'll forgive you for being cold

You forgive me for being too nice
And I'll forgive you for taking advantage of it

You forgive me for trying to raise you up
And I'll forgive you for bringing me down

You forgive me for wanting to tell you everything
And I'll forgive you for trying to hide everything

You forgive me for being honest with you
And I'll forgive you for thinking I'm judging you

You forgive me for just wanting to talk
And I'll forgive you for avoiding me

You forgive me for sharing my life story
And I'll forgive you for forgetting it

You forgive me for lending you my hand
And I'll forgive you for taking my feet

You forgive me for trying to make rules
And I'll forgive you for breaking them

You forgive me for playing your games
And I'll forgive you for being manipulative

You forgive me for caring about you
And I'll forgive you for not caring about it

You forgive me for trying to perfect you
And I'll forgive you for thinking I'm too perfect

You forgive me for trying to teach you to fly
And I'll forgive you for clipping my wings

You forgive me for just wanting an apology
And I'll forgive you for not making it sincere

You forgive me for only wanting a friend
And I'll forgive you for not knowing how

The Athlete

As a retired college athlete I have been trying to somehow find a new identity, one that not only portrays who I am but will allow me to be happy. This is a challenge, as several before me can probably attest to. The problem lies in front of every individual, where do I turn to now? Before this, we had a routine about our lives. We would train and train some more, compete and then compete some more. This went on for years and years of our lives and became a part of us inside and out. So naturally the body and the mind need something to fill that void. The mental toughness we used to endure the pain, the ability to take out our anger and our fears in the very practice fields where we spent the majority of our years have not an exact place in our lives at this time. So instead of taking those things up with a ball and hoop and a little aggression we turn to other things in a state of confusion.

Many of us will turn to the bottle to wash away the day’s worries, others will open the fridge in hopes of finding a food that can clear up any concerns we have about life, others will strive to possess the best of everything by making success and riches their new number one goal. And still others will just roam aimlessly, trying one new thing after the next until they have finally found their new niche in life after no longer being known as an athlete. Well I have decided one thing is for sure in my life. I’m turning to something different. I will always be an athlete, but not in the same sense. You see I have struggled immensely in my faith the last several years in college. I would be so sure I was on the right track and then God would throw in a loophole that would put me in a spiritual bind. I gave up at times and turned to things I shouldn’t have for comfort. I tried and tried my best but the temptations of life always pulled me under, and the tragedies I had to persevere were wearing on my heart and soul. But after every downhill slope there is a climb, and the last few months I have been climbing this mountain God has placed in front of me. I have no idea what is in store for me as I slowly propel myself higher but am excited for what is to come. For so long I stood in the valley and stared up at the mountain thinking I would never even attempt to set foot on it so instead I went about my own ways. But I was starving spiritually and very “out of shape” athletically speaking.

I finally realized I am an athlete at heart and God is training me for the biggest event of my life. Eternity. He has been training me all my life and just as I suffered injuries in basketball I must suffer the difficulties of life as well. After every injury there is a state of rehabilitation and if not done properly, what ever was broken, bruised or strained, will not heal correctly. Well, I know I have some broken pieces about my heart and soul and maybe they will never fully recover to as good as new, but I no longer want to just sit on the sidelines and let the game of life pass before my eyes. I am an athlete and want to compete. God is my coach and I am ready to listen. Although I may not agree with all his coaching tactics and his training techniques I must trust in him that he is preparing me to compete and to achieve the ultimate goal we all strive for, greater than any championship ring or trophy; the ability to say we were a Winner in his eyes as he greets us at the gates of Heaven. There are some who, in this game, will naturally succeed and not struggle as much as others, or will not have to work quite as hard in their training. I know I am not one of those. I am one of the chosen that is to be tested repeatedly, to gain full preparation of what is to come. I accept this task God has given me, and know that he trusts me with the game ball in my hands to do the right thing even when it seems the score in life is in favor of the other side.

The Cave

This song is originally done by Mumford and Sons, which is probably the better version but I think this cover is pretty sweet.

Lyrics to The Cave :
It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be

And I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Teeter-Totter

I have compared life to many things and taken a look at it from all different angles but this analogy leads me to the image of a teeter-totter. Here we are thinking we are always at the bottom you know? Our butt is on the ground and we look up seeing that person above us on the other side. There they are, all smiles like they are practically flying in that blue-sky background. We want what they have so we push off thinking maybe we can achieve something great. But what we don’t realize about teeter-totters is that they go up and down not just up and up. So no matter what we always end up on the ground at some point only wanting more. This leaves us feeling so upset and unsatisfied. Then we start thinking that the chair on the other side is looking very appealing so we make the trek over to try out life on the other side of the teeter-totter. But no matter how hard we try we still end up staring at the sky wondering how we are ever going to stay off the ground. I have an idea. Go to the center of the teeter-totter and put one foot on one side and one foot on the other. You will see both sides above ground at once. This is called balance.

She is Every Woman

She longs for a time, that exact moment when she knew the world was different. She understood only that her world was changing but she never knew how changed it would make her. She desires to go back. Go back to when it was all so simple. Before that moment she knew nothing but living. She dressed in the mornings and ran out to the day waiting to greet her. Rainy days couldn’t make her sad because it was only rain. When she was by herself she was not lonely but free to think and just be. When she was outside in the presence of the sun she took advantage of every ray that fell upon her face. She loved. Loved everything in sight and all the people around her, and they loved her back. Nobody depended on her and nobody judged her. Nobody expected anything great from her; she felt no pressure. She was a child.

Now she is grown and longs for at least one day to be innocent and free. She never meant to get rid of that innocent freedom she possessed. Who took it from her? She was only a girl, just trying to soak up the world around her and enjoy life, but instead the world took advantage of her eagerness to live. They took a piece of her away with every bit of knowledge she consumed. They chipped away at her soul, leaving her feeling a sort of emptiness that she thought only the world could return to her. How did it happen? She only wanted to grow up and experience the world and take advantage of all it had to offer, but now she realizes the world was in fact the only thing that wouldn’t allow her to gain any experience at all. They lied to her telling her she would become mature and smart and pretty and well liked by all. She started depending on the world to feel good instead of just living in it, thriving on every detail thrown her way. She did so much in fact that she is more helpless now than the child she was before. As a child her eyes were open to possibilities and now they are open to knowledge and experience she thinks she could have done without. Now she depends on the people around her to acquire that happiness that used to come so easy to her. People depend on her now as well so she puts others lives in front of her own, leaving her wondering what it was she wanted to be when she grew up. And she’s grown up. This isn’t what she chose is it? Who is she? She is every woman out there right now recapping her life up until this point wanting to move forward but not sure in which direction to take a step. She is every woman out there who feels there is that tiny bit of innocent freedom left that she clings onto so tightly hoping she has a chance. She is every woman with an old dream. She is every woman looking for a change. She is every woman.

Chess

Life is like a game of chess you see. We start out with a fair chance. We are up against the world as we make our first move. Which piece shall we be today, the Pawn, the Knight, the King? What we don’t understand until the game is over is that we were not any of those pieces at all. We were individuals, human beings, created by God to make our own choices and determine our own happiness. We were supposed to be the player who made the choices in life but instead we became the pieces and let life play us. We accepted our role as the Bishop thinking we could only move in diagonal directions and there was nothing we could do about it. We accepted our role as the Pawn thinking we could only take baby steps forward and our function was less important than those around us. Instead of being the player and thinking for ourselves we allowed others to move us in directions that ended up taking a piece of our self worth away. We got so caught up in the game that we lost sight of why were even playing in the first place. Take a look around you. You are no carved out little game piece on a game board. You are the decision maker and you must not accept any role but that. When life takes a piece away you must not accept defeat. You have choices, utilize all of them, and don’t become comfortable. Oh the possibilities you will have when you realize there is life outside of the game board. There is life when you truly decide to live.