Not long ago I traveled from Des Moines, Iowa to Wilmington, Delaware.
On my way to the dentist that morning for a routine cleaning I received a phone call that my flight was moved up. I changed my dentist appointment, zipped down to the airport, and was told my flight was now delayed by an hour.
The flight attendant accidentally spilled a Coke on me when we hit turbulence. Nice big stain on my dress shirt. The baby near me cried inconsolably most of the flight to Atlanta. The guy in front of me dropped his seat back all the way, leaving me almost no room to write in my notebook.
I thought I was going to miss my connecting flight in Atlanta and speed-walked from A gate to C gates in Atlanta. Part way there the shoulder strap snapped off my briefcase. Unrepairable. My second flight was also delayed, which at least let my heart come back to resting rate. This time I got to sit in row 37 between an obese man who not only snored but farted while he slept, and a girl with earbuds who I hope did not realize she was singing off-key to her hip-hop music. No drink problems on this flight. Just lots of wrinkled faces and stares. Did you know pretzels can taste like farts?
I arrived at the car rental place a few hours later than expected. No car available. Had to wait another hour for a car to be delivered. I could still taste the farts. Slow, heavy traffic on I95 South effectively doubled the time it took to drive to Wilmington. I walk up to the hotel desk four hours later than I expected and gave the young woman my name. She winced as she looked me up and down. “I’m new here,” she says. “They trained me to ask ‘How was your trip?’ but in your case I’m not gonna ask.” I had to visit her again in a few minutes to get a different room (the toilet didn’t work in my first room.)
Despite all this I had a terrific day of writing! My first pen ran out of ink between Atlanta and Philadelphia. I finished 14 mindmaps, 6 blog post outlines, 3 communication pieces, and notes for 2 presentations. I felt incredibly tuned to that part of me that is simply… creative. It was an abundant day! Bonus: I have this great story to share.
Mark Horstman says, “How you feel is your fault.” We get to choose our mindset and where we focus our energy.
Where is your focus today?
Sounds like a terrible trip, Glenn. I laughed out loud and felt sorry for you at the same time. I love that you can still pull the positive out at the same time. 🙂
My focus today is on writing. The past few months I have been writing up a storm and it will be the same way for the next few months.
Being a writer helps to focus on “pulling out the positive,” I think. I know that, given the purpose and style of my own writing, EVERY experience — even the not so fun ones — is running through my head as “I’ll probably write about this.” Like Glenn basically said, the weird parts of life make for good party stories (or writing fodder) later on.
Summing up, from my perspective:
“ ‘How you feel is your fault.’ We get to choose our mindset. Bonus: [You] have this great story to share.”
This is my whole life and message: in mentoring, with family advocacy, in my blog and book. Perfectly summed up here!
I always enjoy your posts and insights, Glenn, but I found this one to be a standout. It was real life; and your sharing a personal experience, as well as the humor with which you shared it, made this not only helpful but just darned good writing.
Thanks, Erik!