Several weeks ago, I was already getting excited and gearing up for the Hot Air Balloon Festival. I have always loved them and have always gone to see them whenever I was able. Many a morning I have awoken to that familiar sound of hot air being breathed into the balloons overhead, and as soon as I could process what was happening...I was up and outside trying to see and be part of it. That can't be said for too many things in my life...a morning person, I am not. and I awaken grudgingly at best for any other reason.
As I was talking about the balloons, a friend seemed surprised that I had such a love for them. A risk taker I am not and many have been shocked, to hear that riding in a hot air balloon is way at the top of my bucket list. "What do you love about them?" My friend asked. I had to think about it.
I have always thought they were just so beautiful....the bright colors dotting the sky...the quiet...the serenity...
Today I thought about it some more. As I drove to the walkway, there was always the possibility that the weather conditions wouldn't be favorable for their take off. I wish I could tell you the scientific reasons, but the balloons take off around dawn and dusk...and the weather conditions have to be just right. You stand and watch them, and hold your breath for them...as you see them transform from masses of fabric on the ground. They are blown some warm breezes, they become inspired, and take on a whole new form.. Then you see them lift off, but like a toddler just learning to walk, they sometimes take awhile to get their bearings and get going. Finally they are in the air.....it won't be a long trip, and who knows where or when it will end....but during the flight...there in the middle...is just pure beauty. Their bright colors floating through the sky.... It is as if they have risen to a place above the madding crowd. They have left all the busyness and details and stress and responsibilities down on the ground...and they float peacefully above it all, somehow knowing that upon their landing, it will all still be waiting. It is a calm above the storms below. It is somehow separating yourself from all the junk and getting in touch with what is really important in your life, your heart, your soul...
It is about not stressing and worrying and complaining about the troubles of the day....but somehow knowing and trusting that when the conditions are right, the waiting will have been worth it, and everything will just work itself out in the way that it is supposed to.
Whether in a balloon, or simply just standing and watching them....I find my faith renewed, my spirit lightened and my hope, which may have been lost, found. I am told that hope floats.. So I stand quietly, serenely, lightly and wait for it to float my way.
"Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope the chance to float up. And it will."
~ Steven Rogers
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