The Demons Of Everyday Life

The school where I learned to fly had an airplane in their training fleet that I swear inhabited a demon. It was just an awful little airplane. When I took my first solo flight out of Midway Airport, that was the plane that I was assigned to. Everything started out okay, but while on takeoff, the radio I was using to communicate to the tower began to cut out. I wasn't too worried, after all there were 2 radios in the plane. 
So I went on my merry way, flew to the airports that I had been signed off to fly to. I think I even stopped and had lunch at one of the airports. Everything seemed to be fine.
As I started to make my way back to Midway, the radio that I had been using sputtered out and quit. So I switched over to the second radio and made contact with the control tower. Along the way, the controller gave me some instructions, I responded, but he didn't hear my response. Oh, great! 
There is something in the airplane called a transponder, it's what allows the controller to see your airplane on their radar screen. He told me that if I heard him to hit the ident button. This would make my little airplane light up on his radar screen. So each time he gave me an instruction, I hit the ident button. 
My instructor had taught me well, and he beat it into my head to never allow the airplane to fly me, but rather, always stay ahead of the airplane, or the situation at hand. So thinking about this situation, I knew that the next possible thing to happen was to loose all means of communication and maybe even an electrical failure. As I approached the airport, the controller had the big light gun shining with a steady green light which meant the airport was all mine and I was cleared to land. As I turned final, I looked down and saw that there were 3 Southwest Airline jets, and 2 private jets waiting for me to land. And, all incoming traffic had been put into holding patterns, just so I could get safely on the ground. 
Now, here's the funny part, all along, I had been pushing the ident button as I had been told, but I also continued to try and talk on the radio, just in case it might decide to come back to life . As the airplane touched down, the controller said, "welcome home." I hit the push to talk button and after all that I had been through, it worked!!! See....a mean little demon :) Sadly, there were other times that I had to fly that airplane and other situations that happened. I learned from each, and I think that little demon made me a better pilot, but I didn't like having to deal with his antics!!!

I had a list a mile long yesterday of things I wanted to accomplish, but this is how my day went.....
I got up, made a big cup of tea, as usual. Came upstairs to do my morning writing, sat the cup down and spilled the entire cup. "Okay, I am not going to allow this to steal my joy, I am going to have a great day," I said to myself. Cleaned up the mess and made a second cup of tea. I no more than sat down and here my husband came to tell me that my little dog had thrown up on the rug in the den. Once again, a deep breath, and off I went to clean it up. Now, this all happened before 7 a.m.! 
As the day continued, it seemed to be a comedy of errors, just one thing after another, as if a little demon was doing everything he could to put me over the edge. But each time, I kept telling myself that I was going to have a great day. 
I needed to get a post out to Sew News, but of course, my internet connection was horrible. What should have taken no more than an hour, took almost 3 hours. I almost lost it when I received a note back saying that the document did not come through. After almost 3 hours, had I actually lost all of the work???? Thankfully, no.
As the day began to draw to a close, I received a blessing. My great grandmother died 50 years ago, and for whatever reason, a marker was never placed on her grave. It has always bothered me. Earlier this year, I contacted the cemetery and inquired about having a headstone made. I had been so busy during the day and had no chance to check my messages. But as I settled down for the day, there among the typical messages was an email with this picture attached,

As I looked at the picture, I felt a horrible wrong had been righted. My precious great grandmother's remains no longer laid in an unmarked grave. After all that had gone on throughout my day, I felt quiet and I felt at peace. Yes, I did have a great day.

Life is funny. We start each new day with no idea what may be thrown at us. Just like an emergency situation in an airplane, we can allow events to take over, rule us, and determine the outcome. Or, we can choose to remain at peace and say no, I will not allow this situation to take over and determine how my day will go. After all, life is also very short. We can allow the nasty little demons of everyday life to take over and ruin our day, or we can remain at peace and cherish what we have.
I hope is that whatever may be coming at you today, you will be able to find peace.
Rhonda