Ordeals and Adventures

Airports.

I have a love hate relationship with them. I enjoy the excited bustle and people watching. And I dislike the delays and feeling of being out of control. Which is where I am now. Delayed. Waiting on a mechanic. Surrounded by griping fellow flyers. Unable to board the plane.

first class air plane

I have missed my fair share of connections and this makes me an anxious traveler. My strategy is to plan extra time into every flight. Lengthy layovers and “spill over time” on the tail end of every trip. This is my strategy to deal with stress and anxiety because of the unexpected. But even more than my built-in wiggle room, I try to change my outlook whenever I’m traveling.

I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot lately:

“Attitude is what separates an adventure from an ordeal.”

We’re familiar with ordeals. Cancelled flights. Traffic. People in the express line with way more than ten items. I’ve experienced enough ordeals in my life. I need more adventures!

I tend to think of adventures as being planned. Vacations. Parties. Sporting events. But can I have some taste of adventure every day? Can my attitude change my everyday experiences from ordeals to adventures. What if traffic on my typical route home encourages me to take a new road home? Can this be an adventure? What if instead of rolling my eyes at the express lane wannabes, I used my energy to imagine the back story of these people trying to squeeze twenty items into ten? What if instead of huffing at the Delta agent who is kindly informing me of the delay, I saw my delayed flight as the perfect window to snag some writing time.

My attitude is powerful, it can change an ordeal into an adventure. And you’re reading my “unexpected time” writing ordeal adventure. It’s a good thing I had some unexpected time to think about this, huh?

Do you long for more ordeals or more adventures in your life?

2 comments / Add your comment below

  1. great attitude – love the quote!

    glad I could benefit from your ordeal, er, adventure via reading your blog post today!

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