The ultimate traveler fail – I lost my status. I came within 2 one-way flights to get A-List status for next year’s travel season and I screwed the pooch. Granted, it isn’t that fantastic of a perk – just a little reward of quicker boarding and more flexible flight changes to compensate for all those early mornings trucking to the airport, delayed flights and bad sleeps. But seriously, two flights!? Had I been thinking earlier on in the year, I could have easily knocked this out, no questions asked. I flew a ton of other flights on different airlines, out of convenience or cost and for making one little change, I could have hit the mark. It’s not even that I cared that much about what the status got me, it was I cared more that I was so close and didn’t get it. It was that I looked back and thought, why didn’t I think to do that differently?
I couldn’t help but compare this to the way we have a tendency to look at our lives, especially as we approach the end of the year. The nostalgia of closing yet another chapter, this time a whole decade, and reflecting on what we have done, where we went, who we became and things we might change. For me, New Years and birthdays are kind of a State of the Union of my life, a time to look and say, what did this all mean and what do I want to do better. What do I want to accomplish? I can honestly say after 34 New Years, the amount of resolutions and ideas I set ahead for myself for the coming year are usually very grandiose. And without fail, January 1 has always been somewhat of a “reset day” after a night out, so I always feel like I am behind the ball to begin anyway and by the end of January, the best laid plans have turned into nothing more that wishes in a planner.
So as I contemplated this year, being 2020 – what is it I want this first month, this year, this decade, to reflect about me and who I want to be? It is easy for us to say we strive to make more money, workout everyday, be a super mom, employee of the year, the best spouse around, a great friend and still fit into jeans from freshman year of college. But we (I – I just say “we” to make me feel better 🙂 ) get lost in the “to dos” and forget about the day to days that make us accomplish these things. I know how it plays out when you look at the end game, get frustrated when you fail and then January 10, 2020 is the beginning of the end, why continue if you can’t do it perfect?
Starting this storying telling platform (it’s not a blog) this year was scary for me. It is vulnerable and that is why I did it, because I am not very good at that. It scares me to let people know I have an opinion on things – even if these are not ground breaking issues larger than preferred snack options while traveling or whether or not I think it is appropriate for people to be barefoot on planes (NOTE: Hard stance on this – absolutely not, never). But just putting something out there and not being able to control who reads it or what they think about me is something that I have never been good at. I enjoy creating the narrative. It’s not always easy to come up with something to write, I don’t always feel like it is grade A material or necessarily something that will resonate with anyone but me, but the idea behind this was to put something out into the universe and have it be nothing more than an outlet. Whether 3 people read it or 100 people read it, I am writing with the same intention.
Looking at 2020, I am challenging myself to do more of that – be intentional about the things I am doing. So looking ahead but not letting that control my actions but guide me. If I end up with “A Status” great but know that if other “flights” take me away from that, it is ok. As long as it is intentional and for me, perfection doesn’t matter, it is about the journey. This crazy journey :). Thank you for hanging in there with me for 6 months and letting me share the inner workings of this brain of mine. Cheers to a fantastic 2019 and only good things to come in 2020 – hopefully more nutty passengers, crazy conversations and cute seat mates.
View From Row 15 