MENTAL DIET: HOW TO GAIN LIFE’S ALTITUDE (PART 6)

Every pilot knows that turbulence is unavoidable and a negative internal reaction is non-negotiable for a successful flight to be realizable.

Turbulence is a sudden and sometimes violent shift in airflow. Those irregular motions in the atmosphere create air currents that can cause passengers on an airplane to experience annoying bumps during a flight, or it can be severe enough to throw an airplane out of control.

In fact, United Airline pilot Rob Biddle reveals, “It’s a common occurrence. There’s very rarely a flight where we don’t experience some level of turbulence.” Therefore, turbulence is a part of aviation. Consequently, pilots are not afraid at all of it because they go through training and testing to make sure they know what to do when turbulence suddenly rocks the aircraft up and down or side to side. In fact, every nine months pilot go for recurrent training and check rides.

ATTITUDE CHECK-UP

Turbulence is inevitable in our flight of life. We are the pilots of our lives; we are the masters of our destiny; we are the creative forces of circumstances rather than the creature of circumstances; we are the directors of our life’s movies and the writer of our life’s narratives. Just like pilots who are responsible for the safety and a successful flight of both the airplane and everyone on board the airplane, we are responsible for our destinies and the destinies of those connected or committed to us, therefore, we cannot afford to lose the flight of our lives.

Just like pilots who are aware that their flight journey is not all about them but it is also about leading everyone on board the airplane to the common destination successfully. Along the same vein, our life’s journey is not an “alone” journey, our actions affect the destinies to whom we influence; we cannot afford to think that what we do does not matter. As pilots are aware that every action matters toward the safety and success of the flight. 

A smooth life is a fantasy. When life gets “rough” your attitude must get tough. Every pilot knows that when faced with turbulence they must not lose inward control to negative reaction if they must gain outward control of the turbulent situation and navigate the airplane safely and successfully.  

In fact, the pilot is also aware that if he loses inward control he will make decisions and take actions that will hazard his life and the lives of passengers on board the airplane, so the internal reaction is not an option if wise action must be the option.

Let’s get to identify some internal reaction that causes loss of altitude so we can navigate through the turbulence of life and sustain altitude in our flight of life.

FEAR

When the turbulence of life sets in, do you settle for fear or are you stirred up in faith and confront your fears? Fear makes “mountains out of molehills.” And fear also makes nothing to be an imaginary something that seems larger than life. Fear immobilizes actions and renders one ineffective through life. When your mind is inhabited with fear you become inhibited in the right attitude and you lose altitude.

STRESS

Do you feel overwhelmed? Are you stressed out with burnout? Do you lose concentration over an extended time? Do you get touchy and irritated over seemingly little things? Then you need to take a break to break out of the stress pattern; unclutter your mind, prioritize and organize your life; cut out the non-essentials from your life and maximize the time.

Stress is basically premised on your perception of what’s happening rather than on what is happening to you or around you. When you change your belief pattern you break the stress pattern.

RESENTMENT AND ANGER

 Conflicts inflict internal harm if allowed to linger. Do you feel an angry surge when you think about someone? Do you think of sabotaging another at any given opportunity? Resentment and anger are mental poisons that produce toxic emotions and make the personality repelling. Therefore, get rid of resentment and anger if you want to get rid of a bad attitude that keeps you from gaining altitude.

INABILITY TO HANDLE CHANGE

 Can you adjust to change without losing the right attitude? Can you anticipate change? Can you initiate change? These are critical questions that solicit crucial responses to keep up the flight of life. Change is always constant and our response to it is the variable that determines the value you create and attract or the liabilities you incur and attract. The comfort zone is the enemy of progressive changes and to gain a high-soaring destiny you must get out of your comfort zone and get into the high-flyers zone.

It is of utmost importance to note that some turbulence can be avoided if the pilot stays connected to the control tower. In fact, pilots are always communicating with the control tower for a safe and successful flight with or without turbulence.

So it applies, we are to maintain and sustain an unbroken communication and connection with God during our flight of life without an unbroken communication and connection we will be headed for a destiny crash. Therefore, always connect with the control tower (God) in your flight of life.