At the end of the year, I was talking with my coach about this new year’s goals and strategies… one of the things I was telling him was that I wanted to start landing the plane. Then I went in to explaining what I meant by this, “landing the plane.”
Before I get into explaining this to you, let me tell you about a recent experience I had on a plane, probably one of my craziest experiences on a plane yet, and it seems so fitting for one of this year’s goals. I took a very economical flight over the weekend to see my mom for her birthday, flew out early in the morning and flew back late at night, wanted to get in the most time visiting that I could. The visit was great, the flight out there was pretty smooth, very crowded flight, but the flight attendants made it fun, there were 5 people that had birthdays on that day, so we sang happy birthday, and we even honored the military… I love that the flight attendants did that, went above and beyond! Then came the flight home… Andrea, my wife, was telling me it may be a little bumpy because there was weather coming in right about that time. I have been on a flight during some crazy rain storms, so I honestly wasn’t too worried about it. But this one was a little different.
Life is funny, isn’t it? One day, or even one minute, everything can seem good, then the next thing you know, one thing can change the course of your life. I had thought for a moment, this was going to be one of those life changers. I have been with many people who have had one of those life changers, and the effects are lifelong. I have found it is so important to live your life to the fullest, not necessarily foolishly, but just to the fullest.
When we were coming into landing, the storm was really hitting hard right at that time. The rain was coming down really good, and the hard part was the wind, it was blowing our plane around like it was a toy, pushing the plane sideways, tipping the plane back and forth, the plane was bouncing, and then just when we were about to land, the pilot did something I have never experienced before, but she increased the speed and pulled up the plane! Have you been a part of something like that before? I was thinking about the movies, and how a plane is coming into land on an air craft carrier, and then all of a sudden has to pull up! We circled back around, and the pilot mentioned that we would give it another try! As we were coming in again, the plane was moving around like a toy again, going back and forth, up and down, speeding up, slowing down… I thought we weren’t going to make it… but the pilot pushed through it, and landed the plane… it wasn’t a smooth landing, but she landed the plane! We all clapped on the plane and got off as quick as possible!
Let me get back the one of my goals this year, “landing the plane.” Last year, I did a lot of ground work, studying new products, finding the right company, learning the territory, spending money on advertising, doing my best to put myself out there. It was a difficult year, but I believe it will be well worth it. This year, I am ready to land the plane, fight through the storms, not have to pull up because of the winds or rains or whatever is pushing me around, but land the plane, even if it is a rocky landing.
How about you… are you ready to care enough to battle to land your plane? Are you ready to push through whatever turbulence, whatever rain or wind life will bring at you… sometimes you do need to pull up because the landing isn’t safe, but then you need to circle back around, and push through the storm and land the plane!!
