Best One-Liner Life Advice That I’ve Ever Heard at the Airport

Sometimes one line is all you need…

Airports have always been interesting for me, and on this particular day, I heard the advice that changed my life.

The clouds moved quickly like the Rhinos in “James and The Giant Peach.”

I had already been cussed out by my mom six times, and I wasn’t looking to get to the seventh.

With no umbrella to protect me from the rain, I sat swinging my feet, watching the world move past me. As the rain poured down and my mother paced.

When Moments Like This Happen…

Strangers avoided eye contact as the tense glances from my mom let them know they better not even try to speak up for me.

I sat at the LAX Bus Terminal, looking at the planes, thinking about how riding one must be so different than watching from the ground.

My heart was pounding.

My jokes weren’t working that day.

My smile and humor couldn’t overcome the internal battle that raged in my mother’s eyes and cut fiercely in my mother’s words.

A woman approached and sat next to me with an orange oversized bag that made me think about the circus.

Her supersized umbrella covered us both from the large raindrops that had already soaked through my thin socks and small long-sleeved shirt and made me shiver.

Look For The Hope Beyond The Circumstances.

I felt so tired.

My heart was heavy. The day felt darker on my soul than the storm clouds forming in the sky rapidly in the direction of the airport. Yet, I found joy even in the chilling afternoon and my mother’s fierce mood.

The thought of the woman’s oversized bag, in my elementary school mind, made me wonder what acrobatic animals might pop out.

The thought that a full-sized circus might be bursting at the seams of her orange oversized bag to tumble out next to us in the rain gave me a drop of hope that maybe the day might not end on such a heartbreaking note.

I looked up at her with a laugh and whispered, “really nice bag.”

She glanced down at me with both a perplexed look and smile as if she hadn’t noticed someone had been sitting next to her swinging their feet soaked with rain and a large smile.

Harsh Words Can Cut Hearts.

My mother quickly approached, still enraged by the mental battles that continued to swirl, and told me I needed to be quiet because nobody wanted to hear “my annoying voice or idiotic questions.”

Closing my eyes to prevent the tears that had sat on my heart from falling. I bit the corner of my lower lip to prevent a sigh from escaping.

I knew if my mom saw the tears, she would become even angrier and produce the line she loved “stop crying before I give you something to cry about….”

Look For The Defining Moments In Times of Pain.

Suspended in the impending waterfalls of tears that began to reach the edge, I was encouraged by the words I heard from the women with the large orange bag and supersized umbrella.

“You hold tight to your light, baby girl, no matter who tries to dim it, fight to find your joy.”

The clouds didn’t open. The sun didn’t shine. In fact, the words shared made my mother’s anger rise.

Yet, the seeds of hopeful possibilities had been planted.

Fight for the joy, and cling to the light.

I smiled back at her as a taxi pulled up, and she was driven away, but her words have always stayed.

Nelson Mandela said, “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” So I held to the light by keeping my heart close and my mind filled with hope that even if things outward didn’t change, I would fight to one day make a difference. I decided that when the day came for me to be a grown-up, I would speak up. I wouldn’t turn a blind eye or be too afraid to step in and help others who faced what I was facing.

Through the years, the fight for joy has been overwhelming, and sometimes I have lost my grip, yet in the overwhelm of life, I have clung to my light and pulled myself up above the painful moments.

No matter what they say, don’t let them make you forget that your light is irreplaceable and your heart is formidable.

When the clouds are like Rhinos in the dark moments, and you are watching people take off in airplanes as you stand looking up in the sky, don’t let anyone cover your light.

Appreciating you tons, Shari

P.S. You are cordially invited to work with me as your Personal Growth Coach here.