Life Is So Fragile. And That's The Beauty Of It
A few years ago I visited Las Vegas. I was there primarily for Steve Pavlina's first workshop ever, but I booked an entire week, with the weekend containing the actual workshop in the middle of it. Although I was fully immersed during that weekend, I put some pleasure in the mix too and took some time to thoroughly visit the city (and, of course, study the casinos and enjoy some shows). I also glued this trip with another stuff I had to do in New Zealand, so when I left Vegas, instead of flying back East, towards Europe, I continued West to New Zealand, and then West again to Bucharest.
I literally went around the world in two weeks.
The airline for the Vegas - Auckland flight was Quantas. I remember this very well because we had what we usually call "an incident".
The airplane, a Boeing 780, with the iconic "lump" in the front, had a 2 aisle cabin with 10 seats per row. I got a seat in the middle, between the two aisles and I remember I was really tired. After 1 week of Vegas, with a full weekend spent at Steve's workshop, all I wanted was sleep. And knowing the flight was about 11 hours, I was ready to indulge in a long, transoceanic nap. I put on the blanked, closed my eyes and fell asleep in like 20 seconds.
I wake up on a low murmur, interrupted every once in a while by a monotonous voice on the PA. At first, I thought it was the standard announcement that we can take out our seat belts. Well, it wasn't that. Half asleep, I perceived some sort of agitation coming from my neighbors. They were looking to the LCD screens and then to the airplane windows, which was something completely useless, since it was night for at least 4 hours. But as I became more and more awake, I started to understand: the captain was saying that we're now returning to US, because we're having a hard time navigating. It wasn't bumpy, so there wasn't a storm. Then why we had a hard time navigating?
And then I understood. "We regret to inform you that we need to come back to US, trying to land in Los Angeles, because we hit a bird with the nose of the plane. Important navigation systems are in that part of the plane, hit by the poor bird, so we return to Vegas, where you will get a free night at a hotel, on us, then a new flight in the morning.", the captain said,in the same monotonous voice.
So, we actually hit a bird.
That was something very new to me. To be honest, I didn't believe a word, and I thought it has something more sensitive going on, like losing fuel or an engine failure, and they were trying to avoid panicking.
But after we landed and I could see with my own eyes the nose of the plane from the terminal, I had to believe. As you can see in the picture, there was a hole the size of a small briefcase, right in the middle of it. Two meters to the left or two meters to the right and the bird would have hit an engine. And that would have been really bad.
We spent the night at a hotel in LA and in the morning we got another flight, which was, this time, as smooth as you can imagine.
But that hole in the nose of the plane was still with me. The fact that, at 5000 meters above the Earth, the odds of hitting something with such a small tolerance were so high, that made my mind spin for years.
Most of the time we don’t really know the real danger that’s surrounding us. We don’t know how close we are to not being anymore. And based on this lack of information we make plans and engage in a specific type of existence. Like it's a given that we're actually going to land where we set ourselves up to land. It's not. Anything can happen.
Things are impermanent. Nothing lasts for ever. Not me, not you, not this blockchain-based social media website on which I’m publishing this article. Nothing. We’re just passing by.
And that’s the beauty of it.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Nice post and I understand what you said. In my flying life, not many accidents occur like as you went through. But one unforgettable one is our flight went through a serious clear turbulence which came suddenly. People who didn't have enough time to fasten seatbelt just flew around, hurt themselves; things and luggages were flying. that second I thought I would really die...
Wow, never seen something like this, I assume it was frightening. Being a flight attendant is not easy... :)
Life is, indeed, quite fragile... and I agree that impermanence is part of what makes all of this a a beautiful experience. And-- at least to me-- that's a good reason to always pause and feel gratitude. Great post!
Thank you :)
This is why I find those pictures of Santa plastered on the front of a Boeing hard to believe. Because, if they actually hit something that solid with an aluminum and balsa airplane, there wouldn't be much airplane left.
My thoughts exactly :)
indeed life is fragile and you are right, but in the same time is a great school to learn lot of experiences. hope understund what i want to mean.
Operation - @berniesanders - Negative Rep. Account
Dear Users,
I came back live because the post listed below is immoral. I will make something clear to all. I am not a bot, I use no auto codes, I do all manually, and I'm very good at everything I do, and put my hands on. You all sit around entertaining and supporting this evil person @berniesanders . You see how he does accounts in negative and treats them less than human. You see the way he bashes and abuses this blockchain and others. Those who support this immoral user who is a legend in his own mind and has won nothing, are now subject to the same tactics used before, with some new added since we want to go to another level of treating people unequal. I will come and fuck up every post painting it with truth and turning viewers and potential payers away, including new users. After all, I too am an artist. I see good people being misled, and clueless following as well. Post like this only aggravate situations, they never help. It's never good to go talking like that about others. So if you're as evil as he is, I'm coming for you. Now I made a promise to a friend to lay these accounts down for the benefit of a lot of things, and a lot of people. So, I now will show the world who is responsible for my quick return. @berniesanders is an immoral, evil, simple minded, heartless with his ways, human being. You want to fix a real life or blockchain problem, Take his ass out, and let the blockchain flourish. Take out the real trash. My flags and spam messages trying to have an equal voice never made me less than any of you. And we all well know, we see my messages as I go 1 by 1. So my friends, since this tyrannical person wants to continue to abuse others, I will remain on the server with all accounts live until @berniesanders is in the -negative reputation. I want him to know what it is like to be attacked into silence. We will see how he spams then to be heard. That is now the only cure for this virus created by abuse on humanity. Have a good day, keep smart ~ This Is A Call To Take Out The Real Trash ~ @berniesanders
Source:
https://steemit.com/spam/@berniesanders/why-i-m-flagging-iloveupvotes-time-to-bot-flag
To those that disagree, flag away at me. It does not matter. Even at -100 I will have a voice.
These accounts used to fight are expendable and disposable. Only Fix Listed Above.
Sincerely, @iLoveUpvotes ~
Webwide (a.k.a.) EatinCrayons ~
These Messages & Flags Will Cease In Entirety When @berniesanders Account Is In The -Negative Reputation. Let Him Now Reap What He Has Sowed.