Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

As Dionne Warwick was asking in 1968, and my answer now is “Yes I do!”… From Birmingham, UK. It took approximately 24 hours travel time to get arrive at my destination and that in itself was an experience — enhanced by my knowledge of the three principles.

After I booked my flight to San Jose, via Amsterdam and Seattle, I realised there may have been easier and quicker routes but it really didn’t matter….honestly! Because I’d had a conversation with my mentor some months ago about plane travel which completely changed my mind about long distance travel.

A Paradigm Shift That Led To A Love Of Travel

When my parents lived in Jamaica, I would visit them twice a year, however to get to the sunny isle from my home in England I would have a 10 hour journey which I dreaded. The thought of sitting on a plane for that length of time seemed like an eternity, no where to go, just waiting for the arrival. This felt like torture for me, feeling completely powerless as I had no choice but to wait until the plane arrived.

During one of my supervision sessions with Aaron Turner I mentioned to him that I would love to visit Santa Clara and/or the Pransky’s in La Conner, Washington. When he told me how long it would take to get to these destinations, my heart sank. “I hate flying,” I said, “because of the waiting around and doing nothing.” To which he replied: “No, it’s great!” ( clearly a mad man, I thought) “because I get to do all the things I don’t normally do. I get to watch t.v read, sleep in the middle of the day…it’s great!”

I paused and thought about this: if I were to do any of those things in the middle of the day I would feel extremely guilty as I would feel I should be doing work of some kind or cleaning the house, anything but sitting down and doing …nothing!

But on a plane, I can sit and do nothing because there isn’t much else to do.

Living In The Moment

I then realised why previous journeys had been unbearable, I had been waiting to get to the destination, thinking; thinking about what I would do when I arrived in Jamaica and looking forward to seeing my parents. It was because I was looking at what was going to happen instead of being focused upon what was happening and available in the moment I was in. Looking ahead meant to me that I had to wait 19 hours door to door, to do the things I wanted to do when instead of enjoying the movie, book or sweet sleep I could have without any feelings of guilt.

So during my 24 hour journey to San Jose, I read a book on business marketing, watched the movie “In Time”, read my magazines and slept..a lot.

I enjoyed every minute because I experienced the moment for what it was; not comparing it to the experiences that lay ahead or what I could have been doing at home with the same time but enjoying what I was doing in that moment.

Everyday Wisdom

Stay in the moment and enjoy the full experience of your choice in that moment.

P.S.

It was not the same experience on the way home, I fidgeted, observed the time pass on my watch and slept, sporadically to my destination. Even though I did not enjoy the moment, at least I understood why.