Better on the Ground

There's an old aviation saying:

“Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.”

Well, isn't that a motherfucking life lesson disguised as a preflight safety briefing?

Because isn't that exactly what we do?

We're constantly wishing we were somewhere else.

Wishing we had more money. Better relationships. A different body. A different life. A different fucking boarding group.

Meanwhile, we're standing on perfectly solid ground, bitching about the view.

And Lucy would like to know:

WHEN DID BEING ALIVE STOP BEING ENOUGH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR?

Seriously.

We spend so much time complaining about what we don't have that we forget to appreciate what hasn't been taken away.

Our health. Our freedom. Our peace. Our ability to wake up tomorrow and try this shit again.

And don't even get Lucy started on the drama.

Some of you are so busy managing everybody else's emotional baggage that you've completely abandoned your own carry-on.

“You can be grateful and still want more.”

You're exhausted, overstimulated, emotionally bankrupt, and somehow still accepting connecting flights into other people's bullshit.

And for what?

Because somebody thinks they're entitled to your attention?

Because somebody else's emergency has somehow become your permanent responsibility?

Baby, that's not compassion. That's an unpaid internship in somebody else's dysfunction.

And here's where it gets interesting.

Sometimes we're not even trapped in the turbulence.

We're volunteering for it.

We keep boarding the same emotional aircraft, with the same dysfunctional crew, expecting a different fucking destination.

Same crew. Different plane.

Sound familiar?

Maybe the problem isn't that life keeps giving us turbulence.

Maybe we've forgotten that we're allowed to stay on the ground.

To rest.

To breathe.

To appreciate the ordinary, beautiful, boring miracle of being safe.

Because even the ordinary Tuesday you're complaining about may contain something worth protecting.

And that doesn't mean your problems aren't real.

It means your problems aren't the entirety of your life.

You can be grateful and still want more.

You can love somebody and refuse to carry their baggage.

You can care without becoming the emergency response team.

And you can stop chasing a different destination long enough to appreciate where you've landed.

🎙️ CAPTAIN LUCY'S FINAL PA

"Ladies, gentlemen, and emotionally unclaimed baggage... Captain Lucy speaking. We'd like to remind you that turbulence is a normal part of life. However, repeatedly boarding aircraft you KNOW are headed directly into a shitstorm is entirely optional. Please secure your boundaries, return your self-respect to its full upright position, and discontinue providing complimentary emotional service to passengers who haven't purchased a ticket. And remember, darling... It's better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than flying through somebody else's bullshit wishing you'd stayed the fuck home. Thank you for choosing yourself. We know you had other options. Most of them were terrible."

💋 LUCY IN THE SKY

Turbulence Expected.