Recent events that precipitated the government’s change toward quarantining enabled my husband and me to travel to Spain for a holiday.
The first holiday in over two years.
I had no idea how exhausted and tired I was.
After exhaustive checks making sure we had the correct entry paperwork, travel documentation, proof of double COVID vaccinations, when we finally sat down on the plane, the reality of being able to ‘go somewhere’ sunk in.
As we taxied down the runway, I cried.
A moment of sadness mixed with delight.
Sadness that my beloved children are not with us and pleased that we are at our Spanish home, a home that is tied to us spiritually and emotionally.
As I waited for my husband to pick up the hire car at the airport, there were emotional scenes of people achingly, longingly hugging and kissing each other, shouting for joy, meeting again for the first time in two very long years.
I found myself unable to hold back the tears again.
How fortunate that despite the never-ending lockdowns, I was at least able to see my parents.
For many people, it is the first time they have physically met in two years.
Reunions provide a time to connect and reconnect with the people we care about, families and friends.
Catching up with friends after such a long time apart serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of life.
Life is impermanent, and nothing stays the same.
I still hear people say, will it ever be normal?
Will we ever go back to how it was pre-pandemic?
Life is impermanent, we move on, and nothing lasts or stays the same.
How many plans were made for 2020, only for them to be torn apart?
How many lives have been shattered through loss and immeasurable heartache?
Trying to hold onto the way things were increasing our sense of hurt and fear makes us stuck in a past that can’t be changed.
Accepting change is part of the cycle of life as the seasons, tides, people and even times change, and we can not control it.
There’s a feeling of resignation mixed with jubilation, knowing that tomorrow will be different.
We can’t influence yesterday, but we can have a bearing on tomorrow.
We can respond positively and make today a better day by accepting that time moves forward, and we can’t change it.
We can’t relive that great holiday three years ago, and no matter how many tears have been spilt over the final family holiday you had planned last year, you won’t get that time back again.
It is sobering that much of what happens in life is out of your control but what is exciting is opening oneself up to the possibility that something better and more exciting might be available to us if we are open to the idea.
Back to the airport, where I cried tears of sadness over what could have been, has made me appreciate and value life.
While I didn’t get to have that last family holiday I had so meticulously planned in the previous year, the holiday helped me let go of the hurt and frustration and surrender myself to new possibilities.
I know I can’t have that time back again.
I am willing and open to the possibility that maybe the universe has something bigger and better for my loved ones and me.
What about you?
The future is open
You don’t need to know the future to be hopeful. You just need to embrace the concept of possibility. To accept that the unknowability of that future which are brighter and fairer than the present.
The future is open.
© Matt Haig The Comfort book
