Grateful in Little Rock

Marilyn Orr

Do you ever wonder if “life”, “God” or “the universe” is trying to teach you a lesson? Today I am spending 9 hours in the Little Rock, Arkansas airport as a result of our second emergency aircraft landing in 2 months. Hmmm. 


I have grown less convinced over the years that there is meaning behind everything that happens but this is quite interesting when after decades of flying quite often this has not happened to me before. 

Regardless of your religious or spiritual orientation I think it’s wise to pay attention to the patterns that repeat in your life. 

Do you keep attracting the same kind of unhealthy relationships? 

How about spending habits that repeat and land you in trouble? 

Do you have stress (mis)management patterns that land you in “burned out” before you notice and correct? 

Before leaving on this trip we had a chance to use up what we had in the fridge and freezer (small as they are in our trailer). I like the parallel. We took inventory. We assessed and made plans to use our resources. 

What areas of your life should you be taking inventory on right now? What needs to be re-assessed, thought through or newly appreciated? 

Taking time to ponder can allow us to reframe and gain perspective. 

It has been fun today to double the size of the population at this airport with a plane full of Canadians and Canadian-friendly Americans. Rounds were purchased at the (one and only) bar by a friendly Newfoundlander, stories shared, turns taken in the massage chairs, etc. What could have been a painful delay has actually been quite a fun day. We met a man who knows a guy who caters weddings where our venue is, we got a great contact. 

What do you need time to reframe? 

So back to the emergency landings. I recently took the VIA Character Strengths assessment (I recommend this free assessment https://www.viacharacter.org/www/). My highest was gratitude. Although in both of these landings we landed safely they were certainly a reminder of all we have in our lives. We are loved and have so many amazing people in our lives - family, friends and each other.  God forbid that something happens to us but what a rich fulfilling life we have already had!  

 

So, whatever other lesson we are to be learning right now, we are embracing this as a chance to see how very blessed and rich our lives are! 

What are you grateful for? 

Until next week, 

Marilyn 

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