One summer, my little brother and I, took a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit our family and grandparents. Our flights left from Vegas to Denver to Albuquerque. There weren't any direct flights so we had to make a stop at Denver for our connecting flight. When we got our tickets we noticed that my little brother and I weren't going to be sitting next to each other. When we hopped on the plane I looked up his seat to make sure he was going to have a comfy spot and to check to see who he was going to sit with. I checked his aisle and number. We finally found it and on the seat next to his was a buff, tatted-up, African-American bumping music from his headphones. We looked for my seat and there was a sweet chubby couple next to my seat. I looked at the man in his mid-twenties bumping his music and then the sweet couple reading their books. I wanted my little brother to have a comfortable flight so I offered him to trade seats. He gladly accepted so I headed over to my new spot. I felt super bad because in my head I was thinking Man this guys a gangster! Hes wearing all red! This flights gonna' suck. I still feel bad because I was being super judgmental. I took my seat and placed my carry bag on the floor. He asked "Do you want me to turn up your A/C?" I reply "Sure". I noticed the song that's playing from his headphones, it's one of my favorite song from my favorite artists, J. Cole. The song was from one of his mix-tapes and I was super surprised because I thought someone would be listening to his album and not his mix-tape. I tell him I'm a fan of J. Cole and how I thought his mix-tape was better than his album. He smiled and said "No way! Me too!" We introduced ourselves, his name is Terrance. We struck up a conversation about hip-hop as the plane took off. Just as the plane peaked out of the clouds he pointed to one of his tattoos, which is a group of clouds around his right arm, on top off all the clouds there were in bold letters inked "Head above the clouds." He then proceeded to tell me about where he grew up and how it was one of the toughest neighborhoods in New York. His parents struggled to keep food on the table when he was a kid. He talked about his parents being in lots of tough situations financially, how they struggled to get their family out of the ghetto. He told me that one day his dad came home crying because he had lost his job. His dad just broke down in front of his mom. Terrance continued "My mom grabbed my dad gently by the ears and told him "It's going to be alright, keep your head above the clouds."" He then told me how that phrase had impacted his life. That all of us have problems and we are all struggling in some sort of way, that we may have thought we have lost all hope. That most of us keep our heads down in front of all the clouds/mist not being able to see clearly. We aren't going to be able to see the sun if we keep looking down at the clouds. The clouds are going to be there trying to block our focus and we need to choose to keep rising and to keep our heads above the clouds. Just as soon as he finished we came out of a huge cloud and the sun illuminated everything. Nothing but bright blue sky's and the big yellow sun above ALL of the clouds. Beautiful.
During the rest of the flight we talked about where were headed, where were from and on and on. We even ended up talking about religion. We literally talked the whole flight. We became really great friends. I look back on that experience and now try not to judge others because we all have a story and we all have something to learn from each other and, hey, maybe even become friends. He taught me a wonderful lesson about judgment. Also a great lesson on staying positive and seeking out the best in life. To always keep your head above the clouds.
