Smiling Energy is the last principle we teach in our Training Mindfully with Qigong Principles Program, for a very good reason. Over the years I have learned that in order to have a genuine heart felt smile, and a deep sense of gratitude, all 7 of the other principles must be applied first. They do not have to be perfect but they do have to be a genuine, work in progress.
On July 28th, I had what would later become one of the best training exercises for Smiling Energy I have ever endured.
Having just finished several days at the National Qigong Association Conference, I was ready to drive to the airport and fly home. A couple of friends asked if I could give them a ride which I was happy to do. While we had had some rain near the hotel, the closer we got to the airport, the heavier the rain became. Visibility was low and we made several wrong turns (thank you Siri) before finally getting my first friend to the terminal so she could head home. The rain was coming down in sheets and it felt like a tropical storm. Later we found out it was the second largest rainfall total for Philly; 6 inches in 2 hours.
After I dropped friend number one, I proceeded to drive my other friend to her hotel near the airport. The rain was making it difficult to see but now many of the roads were being flooded as well. This included the road at the entrance to her hotel. Left with few options, I plowed into the 8 inches of standing water to get into the hotel parking lot. Water came up over to hood, windshield and roof from the wake of my determination to get her there. Mission accomplished. Rental car, none the worse wear.
The next stage was to drop off the rental car where I saw a poor guy in a yellow rain suit, with his digital scanner and soggy rental receipts waiting for me. Once I was free of the rental car, I had about a 50 yard walk to the bus stop in the rain. The bus was so crowded I assumed it would stop at all terminals including mine. It did not. (That was on me.) Left with the choice of looping through all the other terminals, back to the rental area and back to the terminal again, I decided it was easier to walk back the 100 yards or more to the other terminal. As I began my walk, I was soaked to the bone and feeling pretty sorry for myself. Suddenly I remembered - I LOVE WALKING IN THE RAIN!
My whole attitude changed and I was splashing in puddles and laughing out loud. One gentleman, smoking under the cover of a ledge at the terminal entrance, saw the whole thing and probably wondered if I should be allowed to walk free on the streets. When I arrived at security, literally dripping on the tile floor, they looked at me inquisitively and asked - "What the hell happened to you?" I smiled and said in a playful voice "ITS RAINING!" They still let me pass. When I got to the scanner, my clothes were sticking to me and quite see-through so I proceeded to tell the TSA agent, "you don't have to scan me, you can see right through my clothes!" Smiling of course...No dice. However, it would appear that the airport scanners do not like trying to see through water either so I was offered a free massage right there, for all to see. When the TSA Agent started messing with my waist band I asked him if he was going to buy me dinner first. He barely looked up and said, "not this time." I smiled anyway.
By this time, my bags had gone through the scanner and aroused suspicion as well. I had a beautiful decorative rock in my carry on which I had purchased for Fayne's birthday, which was today. TSA directed me to another area where they could thoroughly search my bags. I smiled and showed them all my stuff. Once they were convinced the rock was actually a rock, they let me move on to my next adventure. Wet, cold and tired, I stopped by a Starbucks and got a coffee before heading to my gate. Once at the gate, with my phone at 8% charge, I found that electrical outlets were very hard to come by with people huddled around each one like moths to a flame. To my surprise there was one open near the gate agent's desk so I grabbed a chair, plugged in and began to breathe deep and relax. It was about then that the first notice came of our plane being delayed because of the storm. I smiled, sat back and prepared for a longer wait. When my phone had reached about 20% charge, I heard a loud boom and the terminal went dark. All power in the terminal went out. It was about this time that the fire alarm went off and we were being told to evacuate the terminal immediately, in 8 different languages. Once the gate agent had checked with the powers that be, we were told we could stay in place because the terminal had simply lost power and there was no immediate danger. I again sat back, breathed deeply and smiled.
I did wonder that if we were in no immediate danger, then why then, for the next hour, did the fire alarm remain so vigilant in it attempts to evacuate the terminal. I could feel that people were getting very frustrated. Pained by the loud noise of the alarm and flashing strobe lights in the dark terminal. There was nothing for me to do so I sat back and began to breathe deep and smile. I went into a deep meditation whereby I began to explorer the intricate sounds which made up the alarm tone. When you listen carefully there are actually several different tones and rhythms in an alarm signal. I thought about how the "alarm tone designers" might have decided what tones to use. I imagined them trying to figure out which ones, in which combination would get the most attention. I think they found a winner in Philly. At one point in all the chaos and frustration at gate 29, with me sitting in my corner breathing and smiling, I felt eyes on me so I opened mine to find the gate agent staring at me and smiling back. In that moment, when our eyes met, I realized that I had inadvertently helped her reframe the experience we were having. Her mood lightened up and she began to be more playful and light hearted with the hundred or so fellow passengers clamoring for her attention. This made me smile even deeper. The smile was spreading.
It was near this time that the passengers which had more access to technology than our gate agent, informed her our flight had been cancelled. When she confirmed it for us, I worked to booked a hotel room nearby on 7% power with a wordy hotel agent who insisted on going through her programmed spiel even though I had explained thatI might lose my phone power at any moment. I then left the terminal in search of a working outlet for my failing phone. Having found one in a main hallway, I was sitting where people were running by me frantically trying to find their way home. Still wet and cold, I worked to simultaneously charge my phone and get a return flight home. No dice. The best they could do was Tuesday afternoon. Then about an hour later, I was able to get a flight out on Monday but it was in New York. I would have to navigate my way by train and bus to catch that flight. With my phone mostly charged decided to get to the hotel, dry off and try again later.
Once in the room, and dry, I was trying to figure out how to get to New York by navigating the unfamiliar public transportation systems between Philly and New York. I smiled and looked at this as another adventure. Something I had never done before. It was about then that American Airlines called me back and we were able to get me on a US Airways flight back to Dallas out of Philly on Monday afternoon. I cancelled my Monday classes, notified Fayne of the changes, smiled and went to bed.
MOnday morning, fully rested and fed, I left for the airport early expecting there to be a significant crowd of stranded passengers from the previous days adventure. I was right. The line at the check in desk was very long and the agents were being taxed with frustrated, annoyed passengers. When it was my turn, I walked up to the desk smiling and sheepishly said, hello, I am an American Airlines Refugee...Can you help me get home. She giggled and said don't hold your breath, I have only had one other person with a confirmed reservation transferred from American all day. I smiled and hoped for the best. After a few minutes of checking, she informed me I was the second one today that had a confirmed MIDDLE seat. I smiled and asked, do you have a window or isle? She laughed and said I must be a comedian and should count my blessings that I was inside the plane. Then I proceeded to say sheepishly - "then a first class seat is out of the question?" To that, we both laughed out loud. I thanked her for her time and effort and began to head to the terminal. Smiling. When I looked back, I noticed that she now had a smile in her heart for the next customer in line. Again, the smile was spreading.
As I sat and had a nice lunch waiting for my flight, I thought back on the previous 24 hours events. I know that in the not so distant past, I would have handled all of it much differently. I could have easily been one of the irate, frustrated, "why does this always happen TO me" passengers. Instead, I chose to move past that mindset and realized all of this was happening FOR me. By TRUSTING that I would be fine no matter what was thrown my way, ALLOWING the events to unfold as they needed to (not trying to control thing I clearly could not control) and feeling GRATEFUL all the while, I truly felt a deep sense of personal practice unfold. With every turn of events, I smiled deeper. I thought of how I could relate this back to my students. I truly felt grateful for ever turn. I moved from victim, to survivor. Smiling Energy is indeed a powerful tool worth cultivating.
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