Compassion #1
After a week of long days and a complete sense of exhaustion, the news of a flight delay was not welcome. I walked every end of Chicago’s Midway airport on this long layover searching for a quiet spot. Coming up empty, I settled for a space that was at least less loud and crowded.
Moving from agitation to reflection, I noted the people scurrying by: sports teams, couples, parents with children, flight attendants, pilots, people with pets, people in love, people in stress, the calm, the chaotic, the healthy, the struggling, some lost, some hurried…all kinds of people in all kinds of states of being.
As I observed this cacophony of humanity, a lady sat down next to me and began complaining loudly on the phone about her delay. Again, agitation welled up, but then I took a breath, and another breath, and I smiled. How nice it is to have someone to call and spill your complaints. I sent her a silent prayer and a visible smile.
She was overwhelmed and was reaching out to share her life, just to love and to be loved in return.
Maybe that’s what most of these people were doing at some level beneath the surface. Trying to get home or attempting to get to their destination, back to or with people they love. Just to love and be loved in return. These words from Moulin Rouge and Nat King Cole capture a lot. And the journey from agitation to reflection to compassion in a crowded airport was a welcome surprise.
Maybe these words do something for you as well. They did for me.
Worth Repeating
The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.
-from Moulin Rouge
