We Too Can Fly

I met a wonderful young lady this week who works as a professional dancer. She regaled my guests with stories of her world travels and performances over dinner. I found one of her stories to be simply amazing. When she was in Macau, she bungee jumped off of the world’s largest bungee jump at AJ Hackett Macau Tower. She played for my guests a video of her jumping from the tower that is over 760 feet high. The complete  tower is over 1,000 feet but the spot from which they jump is about 760 feet. We asked her how it felt to drop so far and was she afraid while dropping. Her response was notable indeed. She said, “I am a person of faith. I believe in God. As I jumped I was surprised that my stomach did not jump like on a roller coaster. I did not feel as if I was dropping. I felt that God was carrying me. In all that space, all I felt was God…like he was hugging me.”

I was immediately intrigued by her response. I thought further about it and recalled several articles from spiritual writers who claim that God is everywhere. God is space. They claim that God, who is the vivifying force behind what we know as life, is in the air and the sky on earth and fills the area between the planets and stars in space. I ruminated further upon those statements and her quotes and I understood. As she was flying through space, she felt at one with all there is. She had nothing to hold on to and she let go. I am quite certain that if we asked sky divers what they enjoyed most about sky diving we would hear similar stories.

We as humans hold on to so much. In fact one of our phrases is that “We are trying to keep it all together.”  We need to let go.  I am not talking about forgoing all responsibilities in life and bouncing around aimlessly. I mean we need to understand that we should live in the present moment.  Live in the perfection of each moment as we are living it. Don’t look back at the past because it will distract you from enjoying the present moment. Don’t fret about the future because it too, will distract you from the present moment. If we focus on the present moment and be the best person we can possibly be without fear, in that moment, we will create a magnificent future.

I am aware of the value of assessment. We should examine our past acts solely for that purpose. The difficultly arises when we obsess over our past mistakes and worry that we will be harmed by them in the future. We should examine our past to properly assess our actions and then move on. The Bush family, former President George Bush and his son W., have a unique way of celebrating the past. When they were growing up, if one of them had an amazing accomplishment they would be feted for a day. They could revel in their achievement for 24 hours. Their mother would make a cake and a special dinner and they would talk about their exploit in great detail with relish. However, on the next day, the trophy was put away and they could not indulge themselves or others about that  feat.   The past can be used to assess our behavior and then we move on.  We should not obsess about the good or bad things just move on and focus on the present.

When we focus only on the present moment, the results will be astounding.  We will become one with all there is because we will not have fears about the past or worries about the future. We will only have that moment of perfection; that moment of oneness with all there is.  It takes faith to eliminate those past and present concerns. However, once we do, we too will fly. We too will feel the embrace of God and with that authority, all things are possible.

In closing, I am including the first verse of a great song written by Chick Corea and Neville Porter entitled, “Open Your Eyes.” This one verse states what I have been trying to say only far more elegantly:

“Open Your Eyes”

Never be afraid to love
Never be afraid to just be
Catch the way, the change, the doubt
Have the courage to be free

Don’t cloud your eyes with others lies
See only what you want to see
Duplicate this simple truth
Have the courage to be free

Open your eyes, you can fly
Open your eyes, you can fly
You can fly, you can fly, yeah

Written by Chick Corea and Neville Porter