On our recent trip to Wales, we left the Toronto airport at midnight and arrived to the airport in Manchester, England at noon. The direct flight did not take 12 hours; it was a 7 hour flight with an additional 5 hour time change. At about the half way point we witnessed something phenomenal, something we will never forget, a momentary miracle.
In that moment, we were traveling between the two time zones. Ahead of the plane, on the horizon was a thin line of light but as we approached this line it grew taking over the sky above us. Behind the plane was the darkness of night.
It was as if the day was turning like a page in a book and the plane was positioned immediately over the turning page; on one page Canada still slumbering in yesterday’s darkness while on the other, Great Britain fully awake in the new day’s sunlight. In that moment, it was as if the plane was suspended between the two time zones; between yesterday and tomorrow. What a moment!
As the plane glided over darkness on one side and light on the other, I realized it was a visualization of remaining in the moment. Often we spend time looking back or rushing ahead planning for tomorrow, forgetting to grab hold of the beauty in the moment.
Sure, the nostalgia of yesterday is nice to recall but we usually forget the struggles and the sacrifices remembering only the good times. A long time ago, ‘the good ol’ days’ were called ‘these trying times’ just as the days we are living in now, will someday be ‘the good ol’ days’. I can understand why we try to orient ourselves in planning for tomorrow; it makes us feel more in control, even if it is just an illusion.
Thing is, as we gaze back or look head, we miss out on the beauty right before us, that magical moment where we live our daily lives. As American Author, Alice Morse Earle penned, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”
May we all enjoy these summer days, savouring the gift of each moment,
