I find myself in plenty of airport and on plenty of planes. And so it was that I was chatting with a seat mate the other day about America’s favorite topic du jour…politics. The flight was completely full, about a half hour late, and we were 3 hours into a scheduled 4-hour flight. Apparently I got the lucky seat, next to someone who wanted to insult Hillary Clinton to a woman who’s clearly a coastal liberal elite (that’s me, and proudly so).
From my window vantage point, I looked outside and wished the man next to me would shut up. I tend to go a my own personal comfort zone, thinking through with my intellect to process what would otherwise be emotion. It mostly works…but not completely.
In short, it was a lottery. A random seat choice, next to a random idiot, on a random plane. Lesson? Never take the good moments for granted, as there are annoying ones waiting.
Today I woke up, attended to the business of the day, and made sure to fit a few extra things into my allotted minutes. I hugged my puppy at least four times (because I needed to), I called a friend to make dinner plans (I’ve put them off for far too long), I answered some emails in my “do tomorrow” file.
We are a people made of unfinished business, people who sometimes simply need to be reminded that the word “joy” must take precedence over the word “pain.” Today, when someone or something bugs you, take a moment instead to smell a rose, pay an overdue debt, encourage a child, help a stranger, hug someone special. Find a moment.