Flight of the Dragonfly

There’s a dragonfly flying into the wind right in front of the window where I’m writing. The energy it must be expending to do that makes me tired watching. It got me thinking about how often I’ve flown into a head wind and seemingly felt like I was going nowhere, no time soon. It felt disheartening at times.

The problem with that latter approach to thinking however is that sometimes we’ve actually travelled further along than we know, it just feels like we’re standing still. I noticed that the dragon fly never appears to stop fluttering its wings at any stage and it just hangs there suspended in mid air and held as if by some invisible hand in this holding pattern. Held there as it were on instructions from some unseen Flight Controller.

On occasion, I’ve felt like my life has been a bit like that. Held in a flight pattern unaware for the most part of where everything else was in relation to my place in the pattern. That is until, I’ve had the wherewithal to look to either side of me. The thing about the pattern is that it’s so completely symmetrical. And without so much as a ‘helping hand’ from me.

I just wanted to draw your attention to the flight of the dragonfly today. To let you know that when you feel like your life is heading into a head wind, never under estimate just how far you might really be along in the journey. My experience is that the ‘holding pattern’ has purpose even of we don’t know why exactly. Usually, there are other things at work in our lives to bring about a better outcome.

Perhaps ours is to trust the holding pattern and trust the unseen Flight Controller has things in hand. Perhaps ours is to learn not to panic when we can’t see what’s beneath us. Now, that’s a real test of trust isn’t it? It has been for me in the past, what about you?