Pre Flight Checks

Holistic approaches to health protection result in more sustainable lifestyles such that robust health, and resilience to attack, require attention to all the dimensions of our being in Body, Mind and Spirit. Recently I’ve been considering that, for most of us, these dimensions wax and wane in importance as we go through life. In our youth our bodies and physical prowess dominate our psyche and before engaging in our day our typical pre-flight checks might ensure that teeth are clean, breath fresh, hair combed and makeup is properly applied. Attention is also given to whether our clothing projects the image we want the world to see - grunge, alluring, sharp etc. We are self-possessed with the emphasis on the physical as we explore our world through the senses. In mid-life we are often pre-occupied with our work and our sense of identity comes from what we do. Our journey home from work, and our return next day if not also the hours in between, is often devoted to mental rehearsals for meetings or revisiting those of the day just past. Our pre flight checks are concerned with gathering salient facts, analysing situations and planning on how to control events. Hands-free car phones encourage us to squeeze every productive moment from our day and be in office mode while still on the motorway. From a worldly perspective this is the really productive time of life when we establish ourselves professionally and socially and seek to provide for our own families. It’s too easy, during this busy time of life, to neglect those around us and so scuttle the very foundation of our relationships. At some point we ask ourselves ‘Why are we here?’ and the spiritual dimension of our existence comes to the fore. Stephen Covey used to refer to this as ‘spending all your life climbing the ladder only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall’. Only in recent years have I made a deliberate practice of spiritual pre-flight checks before starting my day. Based on the idea that we’re all one in spirit and have a unique role in the natural order of life, my ritual seeks to clear away ‘detritus’ from yesterday so that I approach each day with gratitude and openness to new experience. I also have a deep trust that my day is ordered perfectly for my growth and that I am a conduit of love and healing in the world. My role is to be of service. Interestingly, attention to the spiritual dimension of life demands of us that we protect our mental and physical faculties as best we can. Our capabilities fade naturally as we age but we now appreciate that being of service, for as long as possible, requires that we maintain physical and mental health. Finally, as we approach end-of-life, we must surrender our physical and often mental faculties. It’s through our dotage that we are of service by allowing others to care for us and to witness the inevitable decline that awaits them too. May my final pre flight checks ensure adequate supplies of courage, kindness, gentleness, acceptance and preparedness for the journey that needs no fuel.