What’s that readers?? You were hoping for another insightful post with a heavy emphasis on flight delays and disappointment?! You are in luck! A huge thanks to Southwest this week for giving me the opportunity to provide that to you…. I am not sure how well sarcasm is conveyed via writing, but heads up, I am laying it on thick.
I was off to DC this week for a work conference, rolled into a little sightseeing in my absolute favorite city. I enjoyed a flawless ride from Phoenix to Chicago next to a delightful 70 year old women named Judy. I prefer to call her Overachiever Judy because after just retiring from her job as a national biohazard engineer and scientists for the government, she jumped right into an accelerated nursing program to complete her RN degree in one year and is currently studying for her Nurse Practitioner test she will be taking next month. If there’s anyone that I could’ve sat next to that could make me realize how dumb I sound when I think I am hopelessly stuck in a career path at 33, it was Judy for Manchester.
Upon arriving to Chicago, boarding the plane and finding my seat, I settled in. I noticed the flight attendants started to get a little antsy, pacing the aisles up and down, like you know they know something but they aren’t telling you. And then the announcement
“Folks, just a couple minutes, we are just finishing some paperwork”.
First of all, “finishing the paperwork” is equivalent to “running behind, leaving in ten minutes, just finishing getting ready” when you are meeting someone. No one is ever ten minutes away from being ready when they say that and I personally believe no one is actually ever doing said “paperwork”. It is just an ambiguous answer that can be provided that no one can really question. Like what do I know about departure paperwork?? Not enough to call bull shit on the Captain, that is for sure.
As we sat at the gate, I assumed the delay was for something mechanical, as it was a bright sunny Chicago AM. Ahh yes, the roulette of mechanical problems. Will we land on the 10 minute quick fix or the dreaded deplane, switch gates and be delayed longer than it takes for the airport Starbucks to give you the most basic drink? It’s a gamble – a fun, completely out of your control, psuedo-hostage situation, at the mercy of the mechanic – gamble.
Now please don’t get lost in the technical terminology of the plane issue but it seems the problem was there was something wrong with a box somewhere on the plane that needed to be taken out to put in another box that does something that makes us fly…Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate the pilots meticulous surveying to assure our safe arrival, however as I was sitting and waiting and thinking (my iPad was already dead, that was all that was left to do) I thought, what if we ran our bodies like pilots run planes? What if every morning we did an “all systems check” to make sure we were ready to take on the journey that lay ahead – mentally, emotionally physically? I kind of like the idea. I mean, I could do without the outer body check for dents and flaws or “weighing of the cargo” for sure, but I like the idea of taking a breathe and moving through our mental “pre-flight checklist” to make sure I am at my best before bopping out of bed. It’s kind of a great mental image – scanning your mind, scanning your schedule, scanning your goals – and putting in place what needs to happen to be at your most successful and efficient throughout the day. Sometimes we are in such a hurry to get moving we fail to take a breather and do a daily inventory. My challenge to myself this week is before I get out of bed, before I grab for my phone to check what earth shattering instagram feed updates have occurred in the last 7 hours and start my day – focus on being grateful, confident and intentional about what lies ahead.
Lessons from Judy and the Southwest Travel Crew:
- You are never too old to try something new. JUDY IS 70! Even if it isn’t a career change, you aren’t ever too old to jump into something you have a passion for. Except for Miss America, I think that ship has sailed for me. More to come in my follow-up post “Pageant Life and Other Shattered Dreams” – just kidding mom 🙂
- You are in control of your day. Even when things happen that weren’t part of the initial plan, you are in control of how you react. By starting out setting an intention and have “all systems in check” you are giving yourself a better chance to adapt and react to whatever comes your way.
View From Row 15 