Learning to Fly

By: Payton M. Ishmael

My beautiful friend Brandy is getting married in Cancun, Mexico in just a few short days. In addition to embracing her short amount of time remaining as a little Miss, I’m privileged enough to escape from Texas, my every day, and myself if you will. Over the course of the next several days, I intend to search my soul, clear my head, and uncloud my piecemeal heart.

Aboard American Airlines flight 1211 is where my journey all began. As a fourth grade teacher, you can imagine my dismay when I was seated with two children; an eighth grader and his little brother, a fourth grader; So much for getting away from my day-to-day. As we flew among the clouds, though, they began to ask questions about the clouds, whether or not we would fly over the ocean, and if it was hard to make a bracelet like the one I was currently completing. I had a renewed sense of purpose and confirmation of calling in my profession. They say curiosity killed the cat. I say it satisfies the hearts of teachers. And so, already, Payton = 1 point.

When braiding string became monotonous and my eyes begin to blur from staring at my Kindle, I took time to simply stare blankly out the window. What a huge, huge world we live in. In the grand scheme of things, I’m just a minute little being roaming around this wild, wild nowhere. If I’m just a microscopic, little dot on the globe, then life’s problems must be even smaller. Living life in east Texas, my disadvantages, heavy burdens, and hurtful questions hang above my head like black thunderclouds. When I’m given the opportunity to soar above the clouds, though, I see how quickly clouds move, and just how very insignificant they are when looked at from a new perspective. Before the plane even landed in Mexico, Payton = 2 points.

In the midst of the NBA Championship series, two points seem hardly enough to boast about. As of late, however, I’ve given up many avenues of my life that I’ve always held near and dear. I’ve truly felt like the underdog with no change to rally. Today, I’ll consider my two points of a victory. Anxiously and excitedly, I move forward in hopeful anticipation as I once again spread my wings. “How do you keep your feet on the ground, when you know that you were born to fly?” – Sara Evans