On several flights I can remember hearing the pilot says over the loudspeaker, “please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened as we are experiencing some turbulence due to strong winds and stormy conditions. When we climb to an altitude above the storm and level off, I will turn off the ‘fasten your seatbelt sign’ and you will be free to move about the cabin.” I can remember looking out of the window as we climbed above the storm looking down on the cloud and watching the lighting flashing in the clouds. What an amazing view being above the clouds where the sun is shining and being able to see the storm beneath us.
More than likely you have experienced some cloudy and stormy days in your life. You may even be going through a turbulent place in your life now. If you can allow your imagination to travel above the clouds, you will find that even on the stormiest days the sun is still shining. The beautiful thing about soaring above the clouds is that you do not have to imagine the sun is shining above the storm, you can see it for yourself. Our imagination is like the plane in flight but when we discipline ourselves to find the reality above and beyond the storm, we can release our seatbelts and move around with the assurance that the storm is beneath us.
Sometimes we get so bogged down in the minutia of our day-to-day struggles that we fail to rise above them. Real or imagined, it is time to fly. It is time to get rid of excess or needless baggage, pass through the storm, and soar to an altitude above the clouds where the sun shines even on the darkest days.