Ready for Take Off

Let’s pretend you’re an airplane. Not one of the Boeing Max’s with the problems, or a missing Malaysia Airlines one, just a modest little plane carrying a few passengers. Each morning you get yourself prepared, inject some fuel (coffee for 90% of the universe) and you’re ready to fly! You work throughout the day taking care of all the passengers  - partners, family, friends, work colleagues – but on the whole you soar though the sky, hit a little turbulence here and there, adjust for changes in the weather, but you make it back to base safely every day and land in the comfort of your own bed (or someone else’s, depends on how good your day went!). Tomorrow you’ll do it all again. Ad infinitum. Well, ad infinitum until you fall out of the sky.

Light plane flying over the Peruvian deserts

Aeroplanes, like people (link!!!), need maintenance, they need care and attention, not just for your passengers but for yourself. There’s no point in exemplary upholstery and an opulent interior if outside a wing fell off. Equally, there’s little merit in a shiny exterior if the inside is like a chicken coup . . . unless you really want a business delivering high-flying chicks! Am here all week, don’t forget to tip your waitress! <Ed – we need to talk>

​Essentially you need to take care of yourself: you cannot take off; mind passengers; soar all day through a cobalt sky; land safely; then rinse and repeat, without giving yourself some love. Take a break, take even ten minutes in your day to look after yourself. For those that cannot afford ten minutes, you have 1440 in a day, I’m talking about less than 1%. For those that struggle with that, try ten minutes a week . . . in the grand scheme its nothing, and yet that ten minutes may help you decide whether you’re flying in the right skies to being with. It may also end up saving your life.

To improve your mental health there are numerous sources available to help, beyondblue.org here in Australia, Mind and the NHS in the UK, and a US friend recommended mentalhealthusa.org. If you’re struggling, always reach out to your local GP, but most importantly reach out to someone.  I’d also recommend headspace and buddhify apps, the latter offering excellent walking meditations, and I’m yet to walk into a lamppost this week – win!

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