I have returned to Lebanon after a week long trip to Dubai
and Abu Dhabi. I landed in the busiest airport in the world. I wandered through
the largest mall and went to the top of the tallest building. Dubai holds a lot
of records for large and mighty structures. I had the luxury of seeing this
country with friends that felt like family and showed me all there is to see.
I soared up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, and was able to see the cityscape from above in the night.
The lights scattered all the way to the horizon. The city lights created moving
constellations on the ground with their beaming illuminations. Highways looked
like moving Christmas lights streaming in traffic. Far above the world the view
from the top made the city look so majestic but small. I sat on the
cold ground to really allow the view to soak in. I could see the darkness of
where the city ended and the desert began and where the sea line would be in
the daylight. So many languages were being spoken around me but I could barely
hear their dialect as I inhaled the magnificent view.
Here I was sitting on the
ground on the 125th floor. How
lucky I felt to be able to see the world through my eyes and experience life
the way I did. I was present in my surroundings and able to digest everything I
was seeing and experiencing.
We need to be grounded in our present position wherever that
may be. The pain of the past has a tendency to creep up on us and disable us
from enjoying what the now has to offer. The thoughts of the future kidnap the
excitement from today. We worry about what is to come or what if the pain I
felt is repeated. We build walls to barricade us from pain; we plan ahead and
try to force things to happen the way we want to control the future.
But the more we force life to happen or dwell on the pain of
yesterday; we cripple ourselves from the present.
There is no better time than now. So be here. Look down and
see where your feet are planted. Feel grounded in your environment. Take a look
around at your surroundings and inhale the air. Listen to the atmosphere and
the people around you.
Life is too short to not live life to the fullest
capability.
Things happen exactly as they are meant to. You trying to
force it a certain way will only cause you frustration and stress. Don’t go against
the current.
The more we live in the present, the more in tune we are
with ourselves and can see where life takes us.
The last night before I left I went on a desert safari. We
drove outside Abu Dhabi to the middle of the desert. We piled into a SUV and
sped into the sand. The car was slipping and sliding up and down the sand
mounds. Racing up the top and skidding its way down and at times coming fully
of the ground. We all laughed and at times you could hear screams of fear as we
all thought we might topple over on the dunes.
When we got out of the car my
heart was racing from the dune bashing but I felt so alive and excited. We
stood in the sand and watched as the sun said goodnight and dipped into the
horizon. The sky was filled with shades of pink and orange which contrasted
against the beige sand.
We made our way up the sand mountain, which took more
effort than you would expect. The sand was soft and cool, each step you took
the desert tried to pull your feet in making each stride more difficult. Once
we made it to the top we looked around us. Sand as far as the eye can see.
Little light remained from the sun and the sky was a deep navy and purple. The
air was cool in the desert and the smell of the BBQ being cooked was wafting in
the air.
We grabbed the snowboards which would become our sand boards.
I latched my feet in and stood looking at the steep decline down. I felt an overwhelming
sense of fear creep on me. Nadine reassured me how soft the sand was and any
fall would never cause any pain.
I could not allow fear to stop me from taking this dive
down. So down I went after a few attempts of struggling to stand. There was
nothing to be fearful of. This was not scary at all; it just appeared
frightening when you looked at it.
Some things in life will cause you fear or worry, and you
just have surrender and take the plunge. We need to release fear to experience
life.
We looked behind us on our walk to the tent for dinner and
the belly dancing show. The large super moon was rising from the sand. It was a
deep red with hues of orange, and it was slowly making its way up into the sky
in all of its glory. It shone so bright that no stars could be seen around it.
I feel pure bliss now. Confident of where I am and present
in each moment. I have moments where my mind wanders to worry about the future
or dwells on pain from the past, but I take a deep breath in and realize
exactly where I am because I do not want any fearful thoughts to take away from
the incredible moment I am in now.
