Travel Story: "No Nothing"

"Flight 1702 to Miami, now ready for boarding," crackled the loudspeaker.

I sighed, sinking deeper into the airport chair. I rechecked my boarding pass one more time. "Nope, definitely not mine."

The connecting flight from Dallas to El Paso was now officially late. At this point, I had already spent about 6 hours between my first flight and the Dallas airport. The thought of adding another 2-3 hours to this itinerary and reporting late to my supervisor was starting to get to me.

I wasn't alone.

Feet shuffled, and low, angry mutterings erupted around me.

"This is ridiculous," exclaimed the 50-something-year-old gentleman with the suit and tie.

"Why can't these people get it right?" said another vexed passenger.

While the few absolutely irate ones approached the gate counter.

The gate counter was manned or, should I say, 'woman'ned by one female employee - a petite African American woman in her early 30's. She was dressed sharply in her airline uniform, hair tied behind her ears into a neat bun.

She smiled politely, but everyone at the gate could sense the tension in the air. The passengers wanted answers.

She reached out to the wall phone behind her desk. Spoke for what seemed like an eternity and then slowly made her way back.

In high-pressure situations, my go to reaction is to ease the tension somehow - to reassure that everything is under control.

Which is why what happened next was interesting, to say the least.

The airline employee picked up the microphone and said,

"We apologize for the unexpected delay. Unfortunately, there are no pilots, no flight attendants, and no ground crew for this flight. This flight has NO NOTHING."

I burst out laughing.

It struck me as I was laughing that, as humans, we are capable of feeling complex emotions all at the same time and equally capable of choosing which emotion we give power to  - joy or frustration, certainty or uncertainty, and empathy or anger.

Because I felt them all that day.

• Frustrated that the flight was late yet capable of laughing at the employee's unintentionally funny comment.
• Uncertain when the flight would take off, but also certain that I would eventually reach my destination and
• Irritated at the employee for her honesty but also capable of feeling sorry for her dealing with all the angry passengers.

Eventually, another flight's crew was redirected to ours, and our flight did take off. I landed at my destination 2 hours later than expected but with the memories of my adventures intact. My supervisor had been informed, my bags had all arrived, and I was home. Life was good again.

The incident made me recollect a beautiful story I had once read. About a grandfather and his grandson, and the two wolves that live inside all of us in a constant battle.

A dark wolf with darker emotions like frustration, anger, jealousy, and hate.

And a light wolf with uplifting emotions like patience, love, compassion, and gratitude.

"But which wolf ultimately wins?" asks the grandson innocently.

To which the wise grandfather replies, "The one you feed."

I fed my light wolf that day. Which wolf will you feed today?

Interested in feeding the right wolf? Click here to learn some strategies on how to do it!