I had to take an unexpected flight to get to my mother-in-law's funeral. She had been suffering a long time, so we were grateful that she finally got to break out of the shell of her physical body and cross over. However, with any loss, there is a tremendous amount of stress and grief. I knew it would be this way for my hubby, Charlie, and wanted to get to Florida to be with him as soon as possible. He had gone a day early to be with his mom before her transition and I had stayed home to take care of last-minute details.
You would imagine that I would talk about something profound that I learned while at the funeral. But instead, I want to talk about my journey to the airport. I feel it's an important conversation because life is happening to ALL of us. We all have stress and grief just from day-to-day living. And in this chaos, we take on doubt and fear and often disregard messages that guide us and reassure us that all is OK. That's when we move out of the flow and try to control everything around us. I want to share with you how I managed to stay in the flow under very stressful conditions and even had a miracle show up!
We live in the Georgia mountains about an hour-and-a-half north of Atlanta International Airport. Travel for us to the airport can be a stressful journey in itself. If you've ever been to Atlanta, you KNOW it's crazy with traffic. You can only imagine the bottleneck if there is a wreck. The airport is south of the city. That means we have to travel through Atlanta to get there. Instead of being on the road an hour-and-a-half, I've heard stories where people have sat on the interstate two to three hours to arrive at the airport.
The airport isn't any better than the traffic getting there. It is one of the most traveled airports in the world. Until last week, I had only driven there once to pick up someone. That's because we're fairly new to Georgia. There is a train north of the city that I've ridden in the past to the airport. However, it makes a lot of stops and can actually take longer than the freeway if the traffic is flowing. Since I was traveling on a Sunday, I decided that I would take my chances and drive to the airport.
As I thought through my plans, I knew I faced a very tight timeline to make my 6 p.m. flight. My first stop was to get my dogs to a kennel. The one we use is a little off the beaten path and in another town, but my dogs are familiar with it and the owners take good care of them. However, this kennel only allows pick-ups and drop-offs on Sundays between 3-6. Besides possible traffic issues, I realized this could possibly be another wrench in my schedule due to delays by others picking up or dropping off their pups first. But my gut said I could get it all done. I could drop the dogs off, zip to the airport, find parking, and get through security by 5 pm.
When I told Charlie my travel plans, he thought I was nuts. "Don't you think you're cutting it a little close?"
"Nope," I said, "I can do this. Traffic won't be bad on a Sunday. It will be OK." But I also knew that I had to stay in a grateful, joyful place so that I could be in the flow and get to the airport with grace and ease... and be on time! I knew I had to release any doubt, sit in trust and listen to my gut.
When it came time to leave for the airport, my first instinct was to get to the kennel early. My gut said that even though the time posted was 3 p.m. for drop-offs, someone would be there to take my dogs. This kennel is pretty strict with their times, but something said it would be different this day. Woo hoo! My gut was right. I got there 15 minutes early and they were there.
My drive outside of the city was a breeze. Traffic flowed beautifully. However, as I made my way closer to Atlanta, it began to slow down, almost to a standstill. I would be a liar if I didn't admit that I was a little concerned. But I made a choice to let go of the negative thoughts and, instead, asked my gut what time I would walk into the airport. I saw myself standing in it at 4:40 p.m.
I held the vision in my mind of 4:40 p.m. I felt it throughout my body and let go of my fear of being late. This was pretty cool, because my mind was definitely trying to play games with me. I kept hearing Charlie's words about "cutting it close." Plus, I still had to figure out where the parking lot was, as I had never used it, and I had to get through security. I knew, however, that to stay in the flow I had to trust the message that I had received. So I held the vision and the energy in my body of joy and gratitude for being inside of the airport by 4:40 p.m.
Fear raised its ugly head again as I drove into the airport. Road construction had everything a mess. Thankfully, I caught myself, took a breath, kept that 4:40 p.m. arrival time in my mind, and opened up to receive a message. I said, "Please give me some guidance for parking. I have no idea where to go. I need long term and cheap, please, and easy access to the airport." I noticed a parking sign towards the right, but found it confusing with all of the construction. Something said not to follow it. My gut said, "Continue the path you're on."
I'm so glad I released my fear and listened! I drove right up to a long-term economy parking lot and found a spot. I still wasn't sure where the terminal was in conjunction to the parking, but guessed that I was close enough to walk. It turns out I was just a few minutes from the terminal!
Now here is the really cool part. Upon my arrival into the terminal, I had to take my sunglasses off. As I put them away, something said to check my phone's clock. I was blown away when it said exactly 4:40 p.m. on it!
Walking into the airport at exactly 4:40 p.m. was such a miracle! By trusting that it was so, I stayed in the flow. And it didn't stop there! I still had to get through security and catch a tram to my gate.
As I approached the security line, my heart sank... but only for a moment. I noticed a TSA agent waiving people to two different lines. One was at least a 45-minute wait due to the normal stripping down to your socks and unloading your computer cases. The other line was randomly picked to move through quickly. No removal of anything. Not shoes, computers, not even your baggie full of liquids and gels. Quickly, before I got to the agent, I let go of my fear and gave thanks to her for sending me to the speedy line. She looked at me and waived me that way. Woo hoo!
My original intention was to get through security by 5 p.m. so that I could take my time getting to the tram and then to my gate. And I made it!
My journey to the airport could have had a very different outcome. For instance, when the traffic slowed in Atlanta, I could have panicked and tried to control the situation by jumping off of the interstate to side roads. But my gut said to stay. Within minutes, the traffic opened up. I'm so glad I made a choice to trust and listen to my gut! I'm also glad that I let go of Charlie's concerns. I could have given his opinions more power than my own, but I didn't.
This is the kind of power we have within us. We have the power to tap into our guts. We are all intuitive. We simply have to be willing to open up, ask and receive. And then when we get a message, we get to choose whether we're going to believe it and trust, or to let doubt suck the guidance right out from under us. It's when we choose to trust our guts that we step into a magical flow and miracles show up!
Do you have a magical story you'd like to share? Or a question about how to get in the flow and experience miracles? I invite you share your story with us on my website: http://terribritt.com/trust-your-gut/ or my Facebook page.