Happy New Year from Living Daringly land! I hope your 2016 has gotten off to a wonderful start!
My 2016 has been pretty uneventful. Admittedly this gal was in bed at about 8:00 on New Year’s Eve, because I was tired and jet lagged. But I needed it, so no complaints.
After the roar of my trip, which I still need to write some posts about, I’ve been adjusting to live back to normal.
But one thing that puts my 2016 in perspective is something that happened New Year’s Day. I spent New Year’s Eve in Ft. Lauderdale, and my flight back home to Tampa left on New Year’s. I packed up my stuff and dutifully arrived for my 9:05 flight at around 7:30. I get there, try to print my boarding pass, and the machine tells me it’s too early to check in for this flight. “Please try checking in after 1 hour 30 minutes.” This was confusing, so I asked someone.
- Me: “Sir, I tried to print my boarding pass, but it’s telling me it’s too early to check into my flight.”
- Guy: “Well, yeah. Your flight is at 9:05 p.m.“
- Me: “… Well, that would make a difference, wouldn’t it?”
At that specific point, I wanted to cry. I could feel the tears welling. I just wanted to get home.
And, of course, I felt like an idiot.
But something happened. I specifically told myself not to cry over this. I didn’t.
Instead, I started to chuckle. What else could I do but laugh at myself? This trip was largely in honor of me getting my doctorate, and there I was, stuck because I couldn’t properly read my flight information.
One of my favorite parts in Dan Millman‘s book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, is when Dan is about to become furious with Socrates over something said. Instead? Dan laughs.
Socrates says, “You just experienced a wondrous alchemical transformation. You’ve transmuted anger to laughter.”
That’s what I did. I transmuted frustration and embarrassment into laughter. And it felt soooo much better than holding onto those other emotions.
I got on the phone, called Mom, and she came and picked me up again. We hung out for the rest of the day, until my flight really left.
That is a prime example of how I want my 2016 to go. Bad things will happen. Day-to-day frustrations will build. But I know I have the power to change all of those feelings to more productive and positive ones.
I hope you use your power for this too! Here’s to an awesome 2016!