Oh Canada...It's all About Acceptance
Two weeks ago, I began planning a trip to Nova Scotia (NS). After a decade of traveling for business, I felt quite reluctant to even get on a plane again.
During that time, I suffered migraine headaches. But I just kept going, ignoring the physical signs telling me "don't go," "stop the insanity!" I wanted to get my kids through college and save money to ultimately do what I am doing now.
This trip was different. It was time off. It was pure play. I was meeting my sister and her fiancé in Nova Scotia for a weekend at the Canadian National Curling Championships. What's more Canadian than that!?
I decided on a road trip - what fun! No car ferries operate from Maine at the moment. Further north, in Canada, there's car ferry from St. John. It's a ten-hour drive to a ferry that leaves at 8 a.m. Driving is out.
I move to air travel. I'm done with the 4 a.m. wake-up that brings me directly to a migraine trigger: specifically the 6:10am flight to Chicago. I book a ticket that allows me an easy-like-Sunday-morning approach. Leave at 10:30, rent a car and leisurely cross NS. Enjoy the trip. Everything is set.
In preparation, I regularly invoke loving-kindness: May I be happy, may I be well, may I be free from harm. I repeat this regularly.
The day of my trip, a 5 a.m. wake-up call from a United Airlines agent tells me I am rerouted out of Boston with Air Canada. Bad. This direct flight will land me in NS much earlier. Good! I go for it. I call a taxi for 7a.m. and jump in the shower, pushing my traveling past away - hard.
A trip from Providence to Boston without traffic is less than an hour, but one can never plan for this. I arrive at Logan at 9:30 and my flight leaves at 10:35am. I rush to the Air Canada desk and hand over my ticket and passport. Phew! Made it.
The agent, unfazed, looks up and says, "We just cancelled that flight. Mechanical." Nothing more. She just stares at me. "What?"
She repeats, "The flight is cancelled. What are you not understanding?"
And all the angst of all the travel I hated comes crashing on top of me.
She couldn't care less. She has little to offer. She'll get me through Montreal with an overnight stay and I'll get to Halifax the next day. (Remember this is a two-day trip?)
"What?"
"Again, what part of this are you not understanding?"
Again !?! I am tired, I am hungry and I am trying very hard to be friendly to this uncaring babe.
I have to sit down. I want to lay down on the floor, but I sit.
May I be happy, may I be well, may I be free from harm.
This problem could tip anybody's day over, and it did, but at the end of the day, is it the annoyingly frustrating experiences that prepare us to meet the bigger problems?
I move to acceptance. The trip isn't happening.
May I be happy. I am pretty freakin' happy. I just tipped my whole life over to be happy. How does that feel? Oh, it feels goooood!!!
May I be well. I am strong, I am fit, I am shining my light so others can shine theirs, I am thriving. Life is going pretty well. Yes! That feels great!
May I be free from harm. I have loving relationships, I have support, I know how to care for myself, I know how to give freely. Pretty good on that front too...
I can accept all of it. I feel acceptance of where I am and think about the actions I need to take as this crazy day ends with a wonderful dinner that brings me to feeling overjoyed! All is well.