One thing that I love about traveling is that it usually involves airplanes. As a child, my parents did not believe in the time saving ways of taking an airplane for transportation so we were always stuck in the back of some van for a 12-20 hour road trip. All this was fun and dandy, but as a child all I wanted to do was to see what it was like to fly in an airplane. I finally got my wish and flew for the FIRST time in an airplane when I was 17. I absolutely loved it. Airplanes are a great way of transportation and they allow you to get to places fast. As I was flying into Chicago last week I noticed that it was a beautiful day above the clouds. The airplane was cruising right among the clouds. However, as we started descending into the airport, the sun wasn’t shining any more and the weather was downcast, windy, and cold. It made me think about how many times we are blinded by our current circumstances and forget to consider the bigger picture. The sun always shines–whether we see it or not. And while I’m not necessarily an optimist, I think that looking at the bigger picture and even life in general can be helpful for some people who are so wrapped up in their current circumstance that they lose sight of the things that really matter. It may be dark but acknowledging the occasional beams of light that shine can help us to not get so caught up in our own situation.