We lead lives of confusion.

Firstly, we are thrown into this place called earth without a manual of instructions. Then we are forced to bumble along until we die with a ‘help desk’ that is as useful as a call centre in India.

Children copy parents whose instructions rarely picture their own behaviour. Teachers hand out facts to their pupils like the passing of the ‘hot potato’. Our peers huddle together like sheep in a paddock scared of the black one because it looks like the barking kelpie.

Regimes are then imposed. Political ones – that determine the style of society that we live in. Financial systems – that engulf the fabric of life. Marriage monopolies – that force pairs of people into fencing opponents. Religions – that subordinate the soul in the guise of salvation. Traditions – dragging us back into the past and even our neighbours unwittingly becoming objects of comparison.

You are in crisis and the bloody helpline switches to music mode….

I met someone yesterday who has just flown back from an overseas trip. It was her first trip overseas and she was absolutely gushing about her trip. For many of us, flying overseas is an eye opener and an opportunity to learn. But the main lesson in flying gets lost in the routine of travel. This learning opportunity is what I call the airplane code…and it holds the key to eliminating much of the confusion that govern our lives.

Prior to taking off, we are given an instruction manual. Not how to fly – but how to behave when the flight is aborted and our lives are at stake. And this is why the lesson of the airplane code never sinks in. Most people never get to go where they will need that instruction manual.

The airplane code goes like this:

• When you get into trouble, you will be given help;
• That help will pop out of nowhere (actually in drops down from the overhead bulkhead):
• Everyone will be helped in a similar manner;
• There will be utter confusion – but take your own help first;
• Once you are OK, then you are permitted to see if your travelling companions need your help.

Next week, I will finish off how the airplane code can iron out the confusion in our lives.

In the meantime, you may be able to figure out the code yourself….