In Wind, Sand and Stars, Saint-Exupéry masterfully reports his experience in the African Air Mail as a young pilot.

When notified he was to leave in the morning for his first day at work, he confessed he might not be prepared yet.

Thus he expressed his insecurity to a flight companion that very night.

The author writes that his friend exuded confidence the way a lamp gives off light.

This friend would later beat the record for postal crossings in the Andes and the South Atlantic.

Exupéry reports: whereas smiling the most comforting smiles, he told me simply:

Storms, fog, snow will bother you from time to time.

When they do, think of those who went through all of it before, and say: If they did it, so can I.'

*   *   *

New challenges usually make us insecure.

They cause us a pain in the chest; a stomachache; a sleepless night, when dreams keep portraying possible failures.

It is natural to feel this way for some instants. These are moments when we try searching our abilities, our innermost capacities.

It will always be a chance to get to know ourselves, by asking: Can I make it?

However, if our self-esteem is low, or our self-knowledge precarious, insecurity tends to linger for a longer time.

It can become powerful enough to make us give up and go back.

As if life invited us to take another step and, when lifting our feet from the ground, we felt unbalanced and preferred to return to our first stance.

Thus the advice given to the young pilot is a precious one.

Maybe remembering those who did it before us, or those who survived it, can be really helpful.

If they did it, so can I. This sentence refers to our common potential, but it must also make us remember asking: How did they do it?

Indeed, as overcoming challenges always demands a lot of preparation, effort and great dedication.

Therefore, if we have prepared ourselves, done our task well, there is no reason to be afraid, no reason to let insecurity take over and paralyze us.

Storms, fog and snow are common and natural to life.

The elements are to teach those souls that seek improvement and resistance. They will always exist. In a sense, they are outside our control or command.

What we can steer is the Spirit's airship and our ability to avoiding storms, making good choices and overcoming ourselves.

*   *   *

When Jesus, Model and Guide to Humankind, said Ye are gods, and also He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, He was talking about potential.

He thoroughly knew that perfection is the destination of each and every soul.

We knew the unchanging Law of Progress, and dared to tell those still wicked-hearted men, that some future day, when they really wanted to, they would be like He was already.

He was the dweller atop the mountain, telling those about to start climbing that someday all would reach the summit.

Spiritist Moment Team, based on a fragment from Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
January 04.2010.