IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES…
Last week I had a very good day. We flew to Columbia, South Carolina, with a layover in Dallas, Texas. Our flights were uneventful and smooth, just the way I like them. I started a new book, Ghosted: An American Story, by Nancy French; the book was recommended by a good friend. I was unfamiliar with the author, so I downloaded a sample before I purchased the book. I was enjoying it and decided after only a few pages I wanted to read the whole book. Along the way we had some great conversations with strangers we met. I met a young lady who was flying to Paris. She had tickets to the Olympics and would see Simone Biles compete. It was so fun to share in her excitement. We met two couples who were on their way to Alaska for a cruise; once again it was delightful to share in the joy of the upcoming vacation. When we made it to Columbia we were upgraded into a big, new SUV. We checked into a hotel which was quiet and very comfortable. We had a great night of sleep. What a great day!
IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES…
However, the same day was really awful. We had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready for our flight and the alarm felt like a very rude
awakening. Our flight out of Denver was delayed by 30 minutes which caused us to miss our connection in Dallas, and we spent eight hours in the Dallas airport waiting for the next flight to Columbia. Because we missed our connection, we were now scheduled to arrive in Columbia at 10:50 p.m. and the rental counter for our car closed at 11 p.m. There was no way we could make it from the gate to the rental counter by 11 p.m. I tried to solve this problem by making several phone calls, begging different people to allow the rental counter to stay open a few minutes longer while we were on the way. I was on long holds, I found it very difficult to talk with a live person, and when I did reach a live person, they told me they couldn’t help and gave me another phone number. More holds and more calls ending with, “I am sorry, I can’t help you.” After an hour and a half, I gave up. While at 30,000 feet the sample of the book I was enjoying ran out in the middle of a very exciting chapter, and because we were up in the air, I couldn’t download the rest of the book. After running from our gate to the rental counter, arriving a few minutes after 11pm, we found the counter empty and dark. There was a small sign pointing to an adjacent counter explaining they would help us. That counter was also dark and empty. As a last-ditch effort, we walked out into the rental car garage and found a booth with an agent from another company that had access to keys and helped us to get a car. Our GPS led us to the address of our hotel, but the hotel wasn’t there. We drove around for what seemed like an hour, although I think it was really 10 minutes, but now it was after midnight, and we were beyond tired.
BUT I CAN CHOOSE
This day highlights an interesting question: was this a good day or not? Circumstantially it was both. But I get to decide which parts of the day I talk about, think about, and focus on. If I think about all the things that went well, I will feel grateful and privileged. However, if I dwell on the disappointments and frustrations, I will become angry and discouraged. Often, we do not get to control the events of our life, but we can always choose our reaction to those events. Often this choice is not natural and takes a deliberate act of will. The power to control our thoughts is a gift that God has given us, a powerful gift which is often not acknowledged.
All of us face difficult circumstances that we don’t control. Is there a day that goes by that we are not frustrated by traffic, unreturned phone calls, or technology that doesn’t work properly? On the other hand, most days we all experience unimaginable blessings like the blessings of communication, not being in a traffic accident, other people, wonderful entertainment as convenient as Netflix, etc. Most days are a combination of things which are either frustrating or wonderful, and we have the privilege of choosing what we will focus on.
Today I pray that you will acknowledge the things which are difficult and frustrating, but I pray that you also see the blessings in your life and focus your thoughts on the blessings.
