The good old upgrade. We all know it in some form or another.
Maybe we’ve flown the friendly skies a lot in our lives and piled up the frequent flier miles. At some point, we may have turned those in for the upgrade to First Class.
Or perhaps we’d been driving around that old Pinto the entire time we were in college and beyond. When we finally started making some money, we upgraded to a Chevy Caprice.
To upgrade is to raise to a higher standard. To improve.
As age clicks on in years, we might even turn in an old knee, or a hip, for an upgrade.
I was struck by all of this as I noticed an item on the historical calendar. It was on this date, July 17, 1070, when Arnulf III the Hapless became Earl of Flanders. Now, you want to talk about an upgrade? One day you are Arnulf the Hapless. I mean, how much worse could it be? And the next day, by some miracle, you are donned Earl of Flanders.
That is a serious upgrade.
Well, as it turns out, the miracle was that Arnulf’s father died, and dear old dad left Arnulf the Earl of Flanders-ship. Not so great. But it gets worse for Mr. Hapless. People disputed the succession. Alliances were formed, troops were aligned, and a battle ensued some six months later. Arnulf’s team won. That would be great, except for he was killed in battle. Hapless was no longer Earl of Flanders. The upgrade went to his brother.
Here’s an upgrade story of another kind. This, quite a few years later, but on the same date, July 17, in 1948.
It was after WWII, of course, and non-communist West Berlin had been sectioned off from East Berlin. However, the enclave was surrounded by communist territory, and, in 1948, the Soviets blockaded the city, cutting them off from all supplies.
Hearing of this, the Western alliance resolved to break the Soviet’s dastardly plan by airlifting in the supplies to those West Berliners in need.
Pilot Gail Halvorsen of the US Air Force noticed a crowd of children at Berlin airport when he dropped off supplies. He went over and started handing out candy. Those little West Berliners were so full of gratitude that Halvorsen was deeply impressed. He promised to return with more candy.
And so began a movement called Operation Little Vittles. From that point on, more than twenty tons of candy were dropped on Berlin, some of it sent from donations by children all around the United States.
Eventually, the Soviets relented, realizing that the airlift had ended up supplying more than had initially come by rail and land before the blockade — hence the upgrade.
Upgrades can be a wonderful thing, especially for humans.
I believe that for each one of us, there is a place of peace, deep inside our consciousness.
No matter the situation, if we can learn to go to this center, peace can become our companion. It may be a moment of silence, a deep breath, a mental decision to find this place in us.
But what an upgrade it will be.
Returning to the center of ourselves is the journey of one second. It is the regular practice of peaceful souls. It can be an incredible source of power and peace for us. Just think of it as the best upgrade ever.
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“The world is quiet here.”
― Lemony Snicket
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“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
― Siddhārtha Gautama
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“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still.”
― Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Upgrades. Of all sorts. Some better than others.
