I missed my plane…

Hello my incredible friend!

Yes, yes… it’s not MONDAY! What the heck happened?

I missed my plane.

Yep, that’s how this all started, I missed my plane. However, it ends with me sitting on my sister’s deck in Fort Collins Colorado, so it isn’t a sad story after all!

Like most of our tales, there’s lots of back story and groundwork to lay if one is to completely appreciate the nuances of how it happened that you are getting a Monday Mini on a Tuesday afternoon… but let’s leave that for another day. All you need to know is that I have been preparing to visit my sister whilst also navigating a huge work week. So, Sunday night, I decided to have dinner with my daughters, relax and pack without feeling chaotic, and then send out the Mindful Mini in the morning before I left for the airport. It was essentially ready, I just needed to set up the delivery system, format it to be sent out and schedule the release. Easy breezy!

The morning started off just right… there was no oversleeping the alarm and waking with a panic. I actually woke on my own feeling refreshed and calm. I showered, packed the last few things and just as I was pulling out my computer, I received word that my ride to the airport had fallen through. I needed to leave in 30 minutes and it was early on a Sunday morning. At this point, I didn’t panic… but I was definitely not amused.

And so began the scramble. I have plenty of amazing friends who would take me to the airport. That list gets smaller when you factor in that it’s 5:30am on s Sunday… AND it gets even smaller when it requires a weekend wake up call and the ability to be at my house within 20 minutes. So, after about 15 minutes and investigating the Uber option (which was a fail… no one immediately available for a Boston airport run)… I realized I would have to drive myself.

Here are the highlights of the next two hours:

Construction that has the Sumner Tunnel in Boston closed meant a completely different (and longer) route, TRAFFIC, navigating convoluted airport parking and getting to check in, gate change and SECURITY (I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate)…shoes off, shoes on… RUNNING!

What saved the day? A weather delay. Yup. I missed the original departure time… but due to heavy fog, I made it to the adjusted departure time that was 50 minutes later!

So, what’s the magical take away from all this chaos?

Let it go.

Yeah, I know, it’s not new or particularly inspiring. It’s not a rock your world, implement a dynamic new strategy kinda thing. It is, however, life changing.

Let it go.

I could have driven like a maniac, cutting people off, gripping the steering wheel with rage for the circumstances that had me running late. I could have cursed the person who was supposed to drive me or pointed fingers of blame. I could have seen myself as a victim… After All, I had everything planned out perfectly and it wasn’t my fault that I was now gasping through a panic attack to get to my flight. All of those things could have happened and I wouldn’t have been wrong. But, I would have been miserable and none of it would have changed the outcome for the better. In fact, I suspect it would have made things significantly worse.

Instead, I did what I am going to invite you to do for this TUESDAY Mindful Mini. I let it go. I did some breathing and set some boundaries. I decided not to have conversations with anyone because I knew in the emotional state I was in I couldn’t be kind or fully rational. I reminded myself that the worst thing that could happen was I would miss my flight and I would be ok. In the end, I had time to grab a coffee and sit at the gate having made my (delayed) flight. I happened to have the lat seat in the last row on the plane… and this gave me a whole extra five minutes to read the amazing (non-work related) book I had while the other passengers deplaned when we arrived. I let it go.

So, as I now sit on my sister’s deck in Colorado soaking up the mountain air and family time. I am just getting the mini out and it’s a completely different one than I had originally written. But that’s ok, I let it go. Now, I invite you to gift yourself sanity, lower blood pressure and calm. Let it go. You have the power to frame all the chaos around you and choose how you narrate and react.

Let it go. You are so worth it!

Yours in heart,

Kelly Driscoll