i read a book by ilona selke called "Love, Dolphins and Destiny" and was impressed by her experiments in creating a new reality when faced with difficult situations. she shared about several experiences with airplane flights that were quite amazing. i was curious to try it, but did not really want to be put in a stressful situation of being at an airport with a problem with my flight. and then suddenly i found myself in an unexpected situation; i was accompanying my mom (almost 85 years old) on a flight to the usa for 2 weeks so that she could visit old friends and family and be independent to drive around with a rented car and me at the wheel, without having to be concerned about forgetfulness, carrying the luggage, and driving on her own.
preparations for the trip were all done in plenty of time beforehand; bags packed, flights reserved, etc. we leisurely left for the airport being driven by family and were dropped off at the departure entrance. as we entered the airport and began to stand in line for the first security check, i realized that leaving israel with only my american passport, does not seem sensible....and my israeli one was safely placed with my papers that i would be taking to bali, 3 weeks later, back home. i had purposely emptied out my purse of anything superfluous, basking in the joy of minimal possessions and needs....but forgetting that i am an israeli citizen and may need that passport too, and not just the prestigious american one that allows me to fly back "home" without the need of a visa.
the security man did not know the rules when i asked him if i would be able to fly with just my american one, and i decided to stay calm and optimistic and possibly talk my way out of it at the ticket counter. i could not imagine what i would do if i did need the israeli one! when i began to think, as we waited in line, i tried calling my daughter to see if her friends were still at home and could bring the passport with them and drop it off on their way, but she said they had already left....okay...stay cool....it will all work out fine. i can call my ex, but the minutes are ticking by and the trip takes 90 minutes minimum....stay cool. think positive, let go and let G!D...they will understand and it will all work out.
our turn. my mom walks up to the counter first, and checks in, i begin to also, and mention that i only have the american passport with me, i am sent to the manager a few desks down, who is firm and dry and says: you cannot fly. only if you have your israeli passport. okay....i can try and call my ex now....it will take 90 minutes. the other manager smiles and says he will not allow me to enter the gate any later than 9:55 when he closes them. period. okay....it is now 8:20....i tell them i will call and he will bring it to me, hopefully within the time frame. the manager smiles and says: where do you live ? 90 minutes from here? and now the roads are full because of the holiday traffic, it won't work. i say i want to try.
i called my ex, walked him through my moms house until he found the passport exactly where i had carefully placed it, and i said "now please drive as fast as you can so that i can have it before they close the gate!" i hung up the phone, looked at the clock, knew that i had just driven that road a few minutes ago and was aware how as the 90 minutes had passed the road became more and more crowded with the holiday travellers, and could not imagine how this was going to work out.
meanwhile my mom is having to cope with mixed emotions, how her supposedly responsible 59 year old daughter and world traveller, who had tons of time to organize her things for this trip, did not take her israeli passport!! and now how am i supposed to accompany her?! i asked her if she wants to forget about traveling and we will just go home or if she wants to fly alone? she thought for a moment, and then said that she will fly alone. she did not look like a happy camper....and i couldn't blame her. we said goodbye, and she looked at me with eyes filled with fear, anger and confusion and said " i expect to see you in the seat next to me on the plane!" and off she went in the wheelchair to go through the rest of the flight procedures, on her own.
i stood opposite the managers desk and tried to think what my options were. what would be the fastest and easiest way to meet my ex? the airport is new and huge and with so many levels and parking areas and entrances, how was this going to work when every minute is critical? i called him up again to change our point of meeting and he proudly told me that he is finally on his way, having had to first find his car by my daughter, and then fill it up with gas, and now he is on his way. i hung up, in shock. 20 minutes of the sacred 90 had already passed, and only NOW he was on his way?! what am i going to do? i thought of possibly chumming up with the managers, making small talk, and hopefully in 90 minutes we would feel like family and they wouldn't stand on principal and would let me through the gate even if it was late....but that felt a bit manipulative and not "clean" since my friendliness was for selfish reasons....then came the idea, to try and experiment with meditating on a parallel universe and finding the ticket counter and stewardess smiling and giving us our seating arrangements without any problem.
i sat down on the floor, closed my eyes, and got in touch with my crown chakra and third eye and breathed....i was surprised to see how anxious i was, my heart beating fast, and much movement in all directions inside of me. and so i just breathed and said the serenity prayer for about an hour. along with that i "pulled" my thoughts back to me on the plane, each time that i heard or saw the evil inclination trying to tempt me into believing in scarcity and failure. i saw in my minds eye how the stewardess was welcoming me on board, instead of how my ex was stuck in traffic jams. every now and then i tried to open my eyes and come back to reality, but it was too chaotic and disconcerting, so remaining with my eyes closed, praying, and staying in a different "space" where everything is going along right on time, peacefully and simply, was the path i chose.
i remembered that when ilona wrote about it, she and her partner were both meditating together as they entered a parallel reality where their flights could land or leave on time or connect. i hoped my mom was also busy staying positive and trusting, and not being a victim and angry. i was sure in my heart, that whatever was meant to be would be, that if my mother was supposed to do this trip on her own, than i will not get the passport on time, or if for some reason i am not supposed to be travelling to the usa, then it will not happen. i had shared with my loving higher power that if we are meant to travel together, and that this trip is something he wants for us, then i will do my best now to envision it and be an active partner in making it happen.
with only 20 minutes left until the gate closed, i decided to go outside and wait for my ex. first i did a dry run of the escalator versus the elevator to see which way would be faster to rush down to the ticket desk as soon as i had the passport. next i went out and waited along the road, again choosing to stay with eyes closed, envisioning his safe arrival.
i must admit that there were a few fears; one that G!D forbid, something would happen to him since he had to drive so fast for my sake, and secondly, that even though i have known him for 36 years, and have been disappointed by my expectations of him, that were never realized, i still chose him, of all people, to bring my passport, him, with his slow and thorough way of doing things, regardless of how much time there was to do them in.....so why did i choose him! and with his car that is 20 years old! how did i expect him to speed with it? but as those thoughts crossed my mind, i just envisioned the opposite, and let them go. there was not room for both those thoughts, and preferred to focus on the positive ones. i was grateful i did not have a watch, so i was not looking at it all the time. just taking in the dark sky and cool air and trusting.
a few minutes later the phone rang, and i "walked" him through the kilometer of entrance turns and signs and suddenly saw him drive up. ecstatic to see him and grateful for the miracle, he himself was surprised that his car still had it in it to drive so fast! i grabbed my passport, thanked him profusely and ran. when i got to the ticket counter i saw that it was only 9:40! not only had he arrived on time, but with 15 minutes to spare i had so much adrenalin in me that i just ran through the airport from check point to check point until i found my mom sitting at the entrance to the gate, waving calmly to me as i came into site. we were both grateful to be in this other reality, where everything worked out and we were going to spend the 2 weeks together in the usa as planned. i excitedly told her that i know why this all happened....so that i could experiment in real time with the discovery of a parallel reality. and i thanked my loving higher power for allowing me this lesson.!
i had tried it out a few weeks prior to this, when i left bali this last time. i had assumed i knew the time of my flight and ordered the cab. only at 4 a.m. as i made sure i had all of my tickets and passports, did i double check and saw that i was mistaken and the flight left an hour earlier! and that the gates close an hour before that! i had just lost 2 hours of time, and the drive itself was 4 hours!...what to do? i waited until the guard had awoken and asked him to please call the cab driver and tell him that i need him to come as soon as possible since the flight leaves an hour earlier. he called him, and spoke in balinese to him. when he hung up with him he assured me that he is already on his way (90 minute ride from his house to me) good...but in the end he showed up as planned, and i could not figure out how we were going to get there in 3 hours instead of 4. i noticed he was very calm and i told him i am very nervous...how can we get there by 10 a.m.? he said that i had told him 11, and i said that the guard had called him to tell him i made a mistake. it was only then that i realized that in typical balinese style the guard chose not to tell him about the time difference, since he had already left his house, and was on his way and it would only cause him distress and to lost face if he did not arrive earlier, so he chose to just say good morning and not demand of him to drive much faster.
my driver assured me that we would get there on time. i chose to sit and pray. when i opened my eyes i saw that in spite of the fact that we had been driving at normal speed around and up the winding road, we were already at ubud in so short a time. and i asked him how long the ride is from here; 2 hours. i noticed he had a clock in the car and saw it said 8:30 so, if everything went well, we would get there just on time. i continued to close my eyes and pray, envisioning a safe arrival and trip. when i opened my eyes again, we were already at the entrance to the airport...the clock said 9:20....i looked at him, he smiled. how could a 2 hour trip take 50 minutes? he smiled. i thanked this parallel reality and my lovely cab driver and ilona, for sharing this option in life in her books.
