Category: Overcoming Challenges

Overcoming Challenges

Weight and Balance

How often have you observed an airport baggage handler load luggage/cargo into the cargo hold of a commercial jetliner? Maybe you were in possession of a boarding pass that gave you the distinct honor of a window seat assignment. If so, watching this important phase of preparation for flight departure, is quite intriguing . Each item is strategically placed inside the compartment according to WEIGHT and BALANCE which must be secured properly, to prevent its movement inflight. The correct POSITION of each item is instrumental in determining the influence it may have on the operational efficiency of the aircraft.

According to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), there are specific effects of weight on a jetliner. Excessive weight reduces the flight performance in almost every aspect. For example, the most important PERFORMANCE deficiencies of an overloaded aircraft are: Reduced maneuverability, excessive weight on the nose wheel or tail wheel, and higher/slower takeoff speed, just to name a few. There have several fatal crashes in recent years because of weight distribution errors. The pilot in COMMAND of the aircraft has the responsibility of knowing the maximum allowed weight and its CG (Center of Gravity) limits. The CG is not a fixed point ; its LOCATION depends on the distribution of weight. In other words, the CENTER OF GRAVITY determines the correct BALANCE.

As a new flight attendant, I was very inquisitive about cockpit instruments more than I was about serving coffee, tea or milk. I can remember on one of my flights the captain explained to me that the ATTITUDE gauge displayed the position of the aircraft relative to the horizon. The jetliner’s position determined the ALTITUDE, or how high or low it would fly, taking into consideration weight, balance, traffic or weather conditions.

How does this relate to LIFE’S JOURNEY? So many times we are weighed down with challenges that interfere with the balance we need to continue on our ordained path. The center of our focus is shaken or even destroyed all because we don’t take the right attitude (position) of WHO IS IN CONTROL! We dwell on past hurts and disappointments which can be heavy burdens that will suppress our altitude.

To correct insufficient weight and balance data, the cargo on a jetliner has to be REPOSITIONED for flight safety. As mentioned earlier, too much weight will effect performance. WE must reposition our mindset to allow the One who is in total command to refocus and recenter.

The writer of Hebrews puts it this way: The preceding chapter 11 gives us a history of all the confrontations that God’s people experienced who possessed great faith. Chapter 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every WEIGHT that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us”. NLT

Overcoming Challenges

Jet Lag

I remember my first Transpacific Flight from Atlanta to Narita, Japan which was over 14 hours. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Are we there yet??!! The aircraft flew through approximately five “TIME ZONES”. Merriam Webster defines time zone as , “a geographic region within which the same standard time is used”. Traveling from one time zone to another has distinct affects on the body. According to the Mayo Clinic, these affects are due to exposure to sunlight and fluctuations of our body clock’s rhythm, called the circadian RHYTHM, that can produce symptoms of tiredness, fatigue, irritability, headache, insomnia and lack of concentration. The result of this disruption causes JET LAG. Airspace Magazine puts it this way, “jet lag derives from the simple fact that jets travel so fast through time zones, they leave your body rhythms behind.”

I was a victim of JET LAG for my entire career with Delta. If you’ve never experienced it, I want you to know that it is no picnic! For some crew members that chose to fly internationally, this condition was extremely severe and the recovery process was a matter of TIME. The amount of time for readjusting to normal sleep patterns was different for each individual.

Has it ever seemed as if you were out of RHYTHM or your TIMING was just a little bit misaligned for whatever reason? In your pursuit of PURPOSE, are you are traveling so fast that you get ahead of time or lag behind which causes you to become irritable, out of focus, unable to sleep, and extremely fatigued? Is it difficult for you to distinguish exactly where you are in life? Even after I left my flying career, I recall waking up every night trying to figure out where I was!

Consider this, each TIME ZONE of the earth has different characteristics relative to SEASONS. It’s summer in Georgia where I live, but winter in Rio de Janeiro. In different seasons of our existence, the experiences we encounter should help us locate exactly where we are. On our LIFE’S JOURNEY, we sometimes lose a grip on timing which is key in reaching our true DESTINY. We conclude that we are in the correct time zone or season by gauging external circumstances which often distorts our true perspective of SUCCESS. It becomes incumbent upon us to hurriedly get ahead of God’s TIMING when really we unknowingly LAG behind. This can result in feelings of despair and defeat.

In the RHYTHM of life, SEASONS speak to TIMES. As we constantly pursue PURPOSE without recognizing and embracing the necessary changes of the specific times we encounter, challenges orchestrated by the enemy will pursue us and cause distractions.

We tend to ignore the segmented (zones) assigned to destiny’s pathway. King Solomon explains it this way in Ecclesiastes 3:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every [a]purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Remember that your TIME ZONES are in His hands, as encouraged in Psalms 31:15.

Bracing Position

Life’s Adversities

Even though I’ve been silent for a while, rest assured, I am still navigating through my LIFE’S JOURNEY, and staying focused to continue with you.

I’ve begun to seriously recognize that God uses my Flight Attendant training to speak to every situation I’ve encountered to deliver CLARITY and PURPOSE at my doorstep disguised as ADVERSITY.

The training that Flight Attendants receive consists of more than just “coffee, tea, and milk.” It involves a broad spectrum of RULES AND REGULATIONS, mandated by the FAA, COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS, CONFLICT RESOLUTION, EMERGENCY PROCEDURES, EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP and rendering FIRST AID, just to name a few.

These are all needed for successful flight operations and there are instances when that training is put to the TEST with the development of any of the aforementioned adverse situations.

I want to focus on BRACING POSITION and its relevance to our LIFE’S JOURNEY.

When faced with not so favorable landings, such as a main gear collapse which produces a belly landing, or a water landing, crew members must make certain that the correct bracing position is assumed to prevent the body from being tossed about on impact. This avoids any type of bodily injury to all passengers on board.

In any one of these scenarios, the CAPTAIN would have already briefed the cabin crew and passengers on what to expect and when to assume the bracing position. The Flight Attendant’s job is to instruct passengers on how to carry out these bracing positions and to secure any objects that could become projectiles upon impact. At the critical moment the CAPTAIN will give the command over the PA system, “BRACE, BRACE!” or “BRACE FOR IMPACT!”. Everything and everyone must be SECURED to minimize loss of life and serious injuries. In other words the crew members must prepare in advance to deal with the issue.

As you and I carry on with LIFE’S JOURNEY, there will always be adversities that we must contend with. God has given us RULES AND REGULATIONS and instructions to live by. It is called the Bible, or Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. By EMBRACING His holy word, we can learn to BRACE ourselves when the enemy hurls those “fiery darts,” Ephesians 6:16, into our lives that are meant to distract us from destiny.

As flight crews prepare for emergency landings, we must also BRACE ourselves by communicating with God (praying daily) , resolving conflicts with others and ourselves by studying His word, doing His commands and receiving first aid for the healing of our souls by applying His word to our lives . So to put it plainly we BRACE OURSELVES BY EMBRACING HIM. This prepares us for the challenges ahead, seen and unseen.

Jesus tell us in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you that you might have peace. In the world you have have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Emergencies (trails and tribulations), are common in this life but our security comes from knowing that even though we encounter many adversities, they too have encased within themselves learning more about God, an opportunity for growth as well as a testimony of how our testing times are not in vain.

When it comes to LEADERSHIP, always know and believe that God is the Captain of Our Souls. He is SOVERIEGN RULER and in any crisis, He is always with us.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”