In June of 2024, our friends Barb and Eric invited us to join them for their 25th Anniversary trip on an Alaskan cruise. Hubby has always wanted to visit Alaska, and I was excited about the potential for a vacation. Without a second thought, we were Alaska-bound!
The cruise, however, required us to fly from St. Louis, MO to Seattle, WA. Flying is not Hubby’s favorite means of transportation, but he was willing to forgo his fears for the sake of Alaska. Casting his concern aside was well worth it, as our cruise was wonderful and Alaska was GORGEOUS!
On our flight back, the pilot announced overhead: “The seatbelt signs are now on, and everyone should remain securely buckled in their seats. We are flying through some rainstorms, and turbulence is to be expected.”
Looking out our window, there was nothing but blue skies and white, puffy clouds. There were no signs of turbulence ahead.
When the plane did its whole rocking and shaking thing (a.k.a. turbulence), the view remained unchanged. Fortunately, the disruption in our airborne peace did not last long.
After the flight, we were discussing the rocky portion of our ride. Hubby said he had been on planes with much more severe turbulence, and those pilots never made any kind of warning announcement. Our pilot’s heads-up made him feel better about the upcoming instability and helped him remain calm despite the storm.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we always had this kind of white, puffy turbulence?
I think this is a question I’ve needed to ask for a while now.
For the last year, I have not been very good at making myself sit down to write. I think I’ve been experiencing so much emotional turbulence that I couldn’t get past the fact that things felt unstable.
My instability made me feel inept about putting positive messages out there. Any positivity I generated felt too shaky to share, but after taking some time to reflect, I realized that I was just waiting to experience some white, puffy turbulence. I needed a reminder that sometimes the going is going to get rough, and if I simply buckle up and hang tight, everything will be alright on the other side.
So here’s your white, puffy turbulence announcement: Buckle up. Life is not always going to be smooth sailing. Challenges are going to come at us without warning. We will have seasons of uncertainty and experience the drop in our stomachs as we dip below our comfort levels.
By sticking to our plan of action with a willingness to change our course as needed, we can outlast the instability and maneuver our way to peace, success, and maybe even Alaska. Positive purpose can be one of the healthiest safety precautions you can take. Keep a positive outlook, and you might even enjoy the turbulent ride.
By: Melanie A. Peters
P.S. Alaska, I miss you. You were so worth all the turbulence of getting there.
Intentergy 