Yesterday I was taught an invaluable lesson. I arrived in
Bermuda from Boston after a week of travel to discover that my luggage did not
make the journey with me. And instead of being angry or disappointed about
that, I was more disappointed that I did not follow my own instincts. That I
did not listen to my own inner compass which was telling me something was
amiss.
The night before when I checked in in Chicago, I was told by
the curbside check in handler that my bag would be checked right through to
Bermuda because I had less than a 12 hour layover. What he was telling me made
no sense and I told him so but he was insistent that what he was telling me was
true. Still it did not sit well with me for two reasons. Firstly, I had an
overnight layover in Boston. Secondly, I
was flying to Bermuda on a different airline.
I told the check in handler those facts and he said it did
not matter because the rules are the rules. He was very convincing and he even
showed me my baggage check claim which showed that my bag would be on the
American flight to Boston then the Delta flight to Bermuda the next day. Even
though it still did not resonate with me, because he was so convincing and
showed me the evidence that what he was saying was true, I believed him.
However as I walked away from my bag sitting by itself on
the curbside I had these feelings of unease snaking through my body. My mind
telling me to check the baggage carousel when I got to Boston. I shrugged those
feeling off as I walked away thinking I
was just being paranoid and trying to control situations that were beyond my
control.
When the flight landed in Boston, my inner radar again
peaked and told me to go to the baggage carousel to make sure my bag was not
there but I chose to ignore it thinking I had to trust that others are capable
of doing their jobs. Not just me. I walked out of that airport with every sense
in my body telling me to go back to the baggage carousel but I was so tired and
it was so late that I decided to ignore it.
Through the night I had visions of my bag sitting in the
Boston airport unclaimed but again I dismissed them. So when I got back to
Bermuda and my bag was not there, I knew I had no one to blame but myself. My
inner compass was telling me what to do. My inner voice was screaming at me to
check on my bag. My whole body was letting me know that my instincts were right
and the check in guy was wrong. But I chose to ignore all the signs that were
blatantly obvious to me.
There was no one to blame but myself and I learnt an
invaluable lesson. What was reinforced to me was, when we know we always know.
No matter how convincing others are. No matter how we don’t want to hurt the
feelings of others. We cannot ignore our inner compasses. Our inner voices.
Because when we do, we always go down the path that will be the most difficult
for us.
And I guess I have been ignoring my inner voice for the longest
time now because the Universe chose to show me the power of my inner voice by
teaching me a lesson in the simplest and most obvious way through the loss of
my luggage. There’s no arguing that fact now. And for this lesson I am truly grateful.
I get it Universe. I understand what those symptoms feel like now from this
most basic lesson so I will do my best to listen and take heed. That’s only if
I want my life to be without struggle of course!
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