Why do so many of us crash in life so unexpectedly?
It was dark still. And the shadow of two young lovers can be spotted quietly tip-toeing into a plane hanger. Within minutes a small plane came roaring out and was seen soaring into the quiet morning sky.
As they flew higher and higher, the sun began to peak up over the horizon. And the whole sky was suddenly awash in a dazzling and warm glow of orange and yellow. The young pilot and his girlfriend were enamored by this spectacle of lights. Their hearts were still pounding from the excitement of sneaking away on this uncharted flight.
By the time they reached the brilliant blue ocean, the sky had already cleared. And suddenly, and without warning, the young pilot jerked his steering wheel to the right. The entire plane barrel rolled in the air! The cabin was instantly filled with delighted shrieks of excitement and laughter. This maneuver took this young lady’s breath away!
And this continued over and over again. The young pilot even threw in a couple of somersaults. Just as the two lovers began to catch their breath, a red light started to flicker frantically across the control panel. This was immediately followed by a continuous high-pitch alarm.
The young lady shrieked and yelled “What is going on?!”
The young pilot screamed back, “I don’t understand! The system is telling me that I am flying really close to the surface of the ocean!”
“Pull up and fly us up higher then!” She screamed back!
He pulled up and the plane crashed into the ocean.
This terrible accident was due to spatial disorientation. This happens when a pilot flies over a body of water and then loses track of which direction is up and which is down. When spatial disorientation happens, the pilot is at a high risk of accidentally flying their plane straight into the water; while thinking it is still the sky.
In the same way, if we do not take the time to regularly be mindful and reorient ourselves to our surroundings each day, we may run the risk of also experiencing a form of spatial disorientation. We may end up steering our lives into obstacles that we were originally trying to avoid.
