Perspective and Stress

We are in Bangkok.

Currently, I’m sitting on the plane heading to a tiny island called Ko Samui.

We are so close to our destination.

It’s been three days of traveling. Three days was not the original plan. There were complications right from the beginning. More or less, Air Canada cancelled our flight and then couldn’t find our bags.

We got through it, but in the end we spent 5 hours in the Denver Airport for nothing and lost a day of vacation time.

Yesterday, after 27 hours of traveling, time zone changes, and more uncertainty, Jules was emotionally intelligent enough to remind me of a valuable lesson.

She said “we want to travel, this is how we want to live our lives, so this is the cost.”

Instantly, my perspective completely shifted.

What an absolute gift it is to be able to travel across the world, see new cultures, eat delicious food, and to do so with my favorite person.

So what? I wasted some money and had a stressful 48 hours. I’ll survive.

In the end, it will be the memories made that I will take with me to the grave. I won’t be thinking about that rude Air Canada desk agent that told Jules the wrong information and then scoffed at us when we returned 4 hours later telling her that we were right and she was wrong.

If anything, I’ll remember the stressful moments in the airport, when Jules and I couldn’t think of anything else to do but laugh.

Your life isn’t your experiences. Your life is how you perceive your experiences.

I’m feeling incredibly grateful in this moment.

Sure, it won’t be long until I forget my good fortunes and find something else to be upset about. But until then, I will cherish the laughter and bliss.