Living with an Unruly Mind: Navigating Turbulence in Life
Two hours into a transatlantic flight, way up over the ocean, the aircraft I was in began to shudder. People started to murmur, as their glasses of wine, G&T or cups of coffee began to shake and spill, and I felt my stomach churning as I began to experience that deep fear as the aircraft suddenly dropped by what seemed like a thousand feet in a few seconds.
The murmurs became louder, muffled screams but screams, nonetheless. I found myself digging my fingernails into the armrests of the seat.
Bing-bong, “This is Captain Roberts, we are encountering a little turbulence which we are navigating around so please fasten your seat belts in remain in yours seats,” Bing-bong.
Cabin crew too their seats and I noticed that passengers were really getting flustered by the plane’s buffeting; with worried looks, they were rapidly putting away their books and laptops, but there was one person who captured my attention; a woman, maybe in her early forties, sitting across the aisle to me, calmly reading her book as if she might have already arrived on a Florida beach.
After a few minutes the turbulence slowed and calmed, and everyone seemed to breathe again. Normality returned to the cabin, such as normality is on any aircraft.
As a professional coach and therapist, I was curious as to how the book-reading lady had remained calm during the whole event.
I leaned across and asked her, “Excuse me, I’m sorry but I’m curious about something.”
She partly closed her book, keeping her place with well-manicured fingers and looking at me over her designer specs, “Yes, what’s that?”
“I couldn’t help noticing,” I asked tentatively, “that you remained extremely calm whilst all that chaos was going on just now. May I ask how did it?”
She smiled, “I’m an experienced pilot myself. We are trained to understand the nature of turbulence during flight. It’s the most natural thing for us to encounter and to navigate.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “I will take your example and apply it to my day-to-day life because if I can understand the nature of life’s turbulent events as well as you understand the principles of flight, I’m sure I will enjoy the experience a whole lot better – and maybe get to actually finish a book!”
Learning the principles of how the mind works is like learning the principles of how flight works. When we encounter the turbulence of an unruly mind which is creating unwanted feelings and insecurities, we won’t panic so much and we will know that it too, shall pass.
