What Can You Control?

After visiting South Florida for a week, I was finally flying home. I decided to standby for an earlier flight. I presented my standby request to the gate representative, and watched as the room began to fill with other passengers.

After an hour, they began boarding the plane and calling standby passengers to board. I watched as not just one, but a dozen people were called ahead of me. The room was nearly empty and the flight was loaded. About five minutes before the gate was to close, my name was called.

What frustrates me though was that I spent probably six hours stressing over whether or not I would get on this flight. As a result, I was short with my long time friend as he helped me pack. I was rude to the sky cap because I was stressed and in a hurry.

Perhaps you have areas you stress about, get angry over and worry about that you have absolutely no control over as well. Whether a cancelled or delayed flight, a rainstorm when you planned an outdoor event, waiting in line at the checkout counter, a restaurant not serving you as quickly as you would like, or something else. If the clouds are full of water, then it will rain. If they're not, it won't. If they have a seat, I will get on the flight. If they don't, I won't.

It is easy to get caught up in the moment and panic as you try to control everything going on around you. But, there is great wisdom in understanding sometimes you just have to go with the flow. So much of life is out of our control. What we can control is how we react. Will we be short with a waiter because our food isn't perfect or will we kindly explain our need? Will we be rude to others because our flight has been cancelled, or will we be able to take a deep breath and remember that where a tree falls, it falls? Please keep in mind the choice is always yours on how you react to lifes events.