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Baggage Claim

On Your Journey through Relationships,

There is One Place You Must Avoid!

It is an irrefutable irony; that most of the answers to life's complex questions are often found in the simplest of places. The mysterious is often depicted through the mundane; the profound through the practical. Perhaps it is that way because we are living in this fast-pace-high speed internet-microwaveable culture that has us living, learning, and loving at excessive speeds. It becomes virtually impossible to read the signs as we shoot pass them on our way to another moment of opportunity or possibility. Or, maybe it is because of all the clutter and congestion in our lives causing such a crowd noise that their deafening decibel levels make it difficult to hear the answers calling out from the intercom of experience. Whatever the case, enlightenment usually sub-contracts "an epiphany moment within the ordinary" in order to get our attention. Practically all of us can attest to a moment that struck us so overwhelmingly that it left us catatonically still; frozen under the immersive experience of seeing the flickering light of clarity flashing before our eyes. At that point, a defining moment of wisdom triggers a symphony of thoughts, strung together like the yarn of a sweater weaved by an elderly grandmother knitting, sitting on her front porch. A simple moment produces a cavernous opening so wide that ideas and solutions fly out like caged birds desperately awaiting freedom.

That is what happened to me as I stood in front of that carousel in Baggage Claim. The flight was, for the most part, uneventful. The long trip was delayed further due to my lost baggage. It was bad enough that I had traveled a great distance in order to bury a loved one. Now, my misery was compounded by airline negligence. I was stuck in a city with no personal items because somehow they didn't load my bags onto my connecting flight. I waited at that carousel for what seemed like hours, until I realized that I needed to go to their office and fill out the appropriate paperwork in order to retrieve my luggage. After another hour spent tracking the bags' whereabouts, I walked out of that office despondent and disgusted. As I glanced at that carousel one last time in some fleeting moment of wishful thinking, I noticed that another crowd of people stood at that same carousel. Just that quickly, the area filled up again and another flight replaced us in Baggage Claim. That's when it hit me; that this entire experience mirrors relationships! I was blown away by the profound parallelisms between flying and relationships; how inextricably linked all of us are in this journey. I saw the mysterious in the mundane; the profound within the practical. I knew that in order to understand how to build healthy relationships, I had to first see life as a journey. That became my starting point! Soon, worlds of wisdom opened up to me as I began seeing arrivals, departures, connections; every component commensurate to flying as a profound metaphor to life and relationships. And because this epiphany came while I stood in Baggage Claim, I clearly understood this area to be the most critical piece to this puzzle. For, if we are to end the cycles of dysfunctional relationships, we must avoid this area of life! If we are to create healthy and wholesome relationships, we absolutely cannot be stuck in some bland repetitive motion of existence. In air travel, baggage is transported by handlers or a crew, and is scanned for hazardous material. In life, baggage is transported mentally, psychologically, and emotionally. They are never scanned, thus the hazard materials of bitterness, un-forgiveness, anger, and regret leak into every relationship until they are contaminated with these toxic elements. And because most people carry baggage into relationships, it's so very difficult to distinguish one bag from the next.

All of this downloaded within me as I walked through Baggage Claim that night. By the time I arrived at the hotel and retired upon the bed late that evening, I knew that I had a break-through moment that had revolutionized my thinking. I clearly understood that if I was going to make an impact in life, I had to write this book. I had to share my epiphany with the world. I had to let the once-caged birds fly free!