Day 275

After six days of being on this beautiful land, I prepared myself to travel to Texas to be with my family for the remainder of the holiday season.

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time for my flight, which was, of course, delayed. Because I would have missed my connecting flight, I was rerouted through LAX. Unfortunately, the radar system had failed early in the day, so we (and all other arriving flights) had to ride around the airport in circles, waiting for a terminal gate to open. Upon exiting the plane, I checked the gate for my connection, and headed that way. After traversing about a half a mile and through two long temporary construction corridors, I arrived in a room where there were more people than I had ever seen in LAX previously. There were people waiting from the previous four flights, one ticket agent, chairs enough for only one flight’s passengers, and no restroom. It was hot, and people were cranky.

I decided that the very best way for me to be of use in this situation was to model Peace. For me, that means to smile, make eye contact with people and thank the ticket agent. Of course, those are the external actions I took. But I also had to find the place inside of myself that knew that everything would work out, to feel into the space and hold it loosely and to remain calm.

In all truth, the day was an inconvenience. I like it when my travel goes as it is planned. And, there was a time when I would have been the angry person yelling at the ticket agent. Not any more.

This Peace Walker knows, that being Peace in the midst of chaos (real or perceived), is something to work at. While I would like to say I never lose the Peaceful place inside of myself, it simply isn’t the case. What I have learned is the tools that help me come back to my center more quickly. And each time, I strengthen the muscle that is Peace for me, making the time between feeling it and not much greater.

Although I was exhausted, I was grateful to be able to have this as my biggest “problem” in my day. I often think about the things I get to do that are so far removed from what others get to experience, and I am aware of how fortunate I really am. I think about countries at war and the number of refugees who are simply trying to stay alive, and I feel the privilege I have known my entire life. And you know, it makes me really look at how I want to step into my Walk for Peace even more.

I am committed to helping people find Peace within themselves, Peace in their families and their friends, Peace in their communities and Peace in every corner of the globe.

I am, a stand for Peace.