Cross Check

It's 1983 somewhere over Southern Alabama, in the cockpit of a UH1H Iroquois, better known as a Huey, and a cocksure young man wearing the the bars of a 1st Lieutenant is trying to master the art of flying using only the instruments on the panel in front of him.  And getting his butt kicked.  In his head and over the intercom, he is hearing the words, "Cross check, CROSS CHECK, CROSS CHECK!" 

Those two little words mean to look at each instrument in turn to make sure you are in trim, you are holding altitude, maintaining airspeed, and there are no malfunctions on the only thing keeping you in the air which is the engine.  The wannabe aviator had to look at each in turn and not get mesmerized by any one of the gauges and instruments that kept him going in the right direction to arrive at the right place, at the right time, and in one piece.

You must scan across each one taking in the details in less than a second and move on to the next one while making any corrections that might need to be made.  Eventually you become quite good at it. Some can do it a lot quicker than others so that it seems they are natural and adept flyers.  As any flight instructor will tell you there is no such thing as a "natural" pilot, so most of us have to practice, practice, and practice some more to meet the standards.

I suppose life is much the same way.  None of us have the advantage of being "natural" at living.  We are taught by, if we are really lucky, loving and patient people around us who have gone through what we are going through at the time, years before.  Specifics may have changed over time but the goals of growing and living and loving never change.

I find myself cross checking everything in my daily life now. Almost frantically looking at everything, and trying to take it all in.  Picking out details and minutia that others might miss.  This time of year is especially important to me because so much changes on a daily, if not hourly basis.  Spring bringing new growth and renewed life to the earth.  Children growing and stretching their boundaries.  Old folks growing older and, hopefully, wiser.

Yet, if I do not look, if I do not see, if I do not take it all in, I miss it.  I miss the first buds on the trees,  The opening of a flower blossom, going from a promise to perfection.  The start of new life as shoots of bulbs push through the earth to get to the sunlight.  Birds, and reptiles pushing through egg shells that they have been in, seeking their own freedom and existence.

I used to take all of this for granted, but not any more.  This year there is an urgency to take it all in because I do not know how many more such moments like these I have left.

So I urge you on this fine Easter Sunday, to cross check your life in each and every moment.  Look for the things that are important.  Look for the beauty.  See the things that need to be corrected and correct them and move on to the next.  Feel the energy of being alive.  Give love where needed and not just where expected.

Most importantly live!  Not just breath.  Live!  Grab life by the nape of the neck and scream, "I am alive!  I will wring out every last drop of living out of life that I can!  I will LIVE!"

Oh that young officer?  He did make it through and went on to fly air ambulances and in doing so saved a few lives along the way.



Until next time..........................