This seems like such a counter-intuitive question. Usually when things go “wrong,” we can have a pretty negative response. This may include anger, frustration, disappointment, fear, guilt, or any number of negative emotions. Aren’t we justified to feel these in a “bad” situation? Perhaps or perhaps not. While it’s natural to feel the sting of any unexpected situation when it first happens, how long we keep feeling that sting is our own choice. We can keep recounting the unfairness of what happens for days, weeks, months or we can choose a different perspective – look for the gift and opportunity in the situation and act from there. Let me explain with an example.
My 24 hour Flight from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta
It was 36 hours before our much anticipated vacation to Mexico for 5 nights. Hubby and I were looking forward to some alone time and the hot sun, as it was 50 degrees in San Francisco. I got an email from Alaska airlines saying they are canceling our 3.5 hour direct flight and they cannot offer any alternatives. What?! This was during the time Alaska grounded all Boeing Max 9 planes following an accident in the air. I saw the news but didn’t connect the dots until I got the email.
Luckily, I acted quickly and found a red eye fight the night before we were supposed to leave, connecting via Mexico City. It’s another $1K for us but we get to keep our vacation and arrive in Puerto Vallarta 5 hours earlier. Yay or I thought.
Our red eye flight ended up being delayed for 90 minutes causing us to miss our connecting flight. After rushing through the airport in Mexico City, we missed our 7am flight by 10 minutes. The next flight we got was at 8pm, 13 hours later. What?!
What Was My Reaction?
Well, disbelief was my first reaction. 13 hours at Mexico City airport was not how I envisioned the start of our vacation. I don’t know if you have been to this airport. It’s both stuffy and crowded. We barely slept on our red eye flight from SFO and now this. We both felt tired and cranky. I had two choices – either continue to lament our situation or focus our energy on adapting to our new reality. I choose the latter – how to make the best of the 12 hours we have in Mexico City.
I am a Marriott member so we found a courtyard by Marriott right by the airport. I called them to make sure they would let me check in at 10am if I booked an overnight stay. We explained we would only be there from 10-6pm due to a flight delay. They understood, booked our room, and sent a shuttle to pick us up. It took us another 30 minutes to find the pick up spot. However, by 10:30am we were checked in, showered, and comfortably snuggled in bed to catch up on our sleep. We woke up 5 hours later much better rested and had a wonderful early dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was surprisingly good or perhaps we were just more rested and thankful we had this option to start enjoying ourselves already.
Our Saga Continues
We headed back to the airport at 6pm and went through security easily. We thus had an hour to go to a priority pass lounge to wait for our flights. All seems to be on time. Well, not so fast. They overbooked the flights and for a minute there we were not sure we can get on. Imagine our reaction when we heard that. Then it was delayed also for an hour. After much excitement, we were thankful to be in seats and on our way finally to Puerto Vallarta. We landed around 10:30pm.
The direction to get an Uber was pretty easy so we were at the hotel before 11pm. We finally made it and we thought we can finally rest. Not
so fast! As we got out of Uber, hubby asked me if I had seen his computer bag. I did not. It also wasn’t in the trunk of the Uber. It dawned on him that in his rush to get both of our carry-ons in the overhead compartment, he probably left his computer bag under his seat. He was pretty tired so he wasn’t sure. He was beyond upset. What do we do now? The hotel suggested we just head back to the airport. Getting this resolved right away and in person was the best option. Thankfully, the airport was only 15 minute away. Our same Uber driver actually waited and just drove us back.
We got there and there was literally no one at the airport. Finally we found a security guard and after some effort, he understood what we needed and called someone. A lady emerged from AeroMexico airline office and said she was actually looking for me. Hubby actually sat in my seat so they thought the laptop bag was mine. She had the bag with her. Halleluiah! Hubby was very relieved. We returned to the hotel again to finally check in at 11:45pm. What a 24 hours trip.
I am Grateful
While I don’t wish this kind of flight delay on anyone, I was able recover quickly from the initial shock and stay calm and grateful most of the time.
- So many strangers helped us along the way – some jump in to translate for us and others let us go ahead of them so we can try to make our flight. There can be so much kindness in the world. It reminds me to also look out for opportunity to help others.
- We actually got to skip the “hellish” long line through immigration in Mexico City. If we were not rushing to make our connection, we would have had to wait in the normal line which was winding around 20+ times over. It would have been at least 2+ hours standing in a stuffy room after getting little sleep. The fact we were rushing to make a connection turned out to be a blessing. We were taken to the fastest line and only waited 15 min.
- Our layover was long enough to give us time to go to a hotel rest and come back. At first the 12 hour layover was a shock. Then we realized it was kind of a blessing as if it was only 5 hours, we likely just had to wait it out at the airport. Instead we got to start our vacation already in that Courtyard Marriott.
- We were able to still have our vacation as planned. Remember there was no alternative flights offered by Alaska. While we arrived 10 hours later then our direct flight would of, we still got there. Our room had a spectacular view of the sunset and we fell asleep to the sound of the ocean.
You get the idea. I think we can also find the good if we look at things from that perspective. The rest of our vacation was not without hiccups as well, but such is life. We still got an amazing tan, enjoyed nice dinners, and met some interesting people.
Moral of the Story
It is possible to handle any unexpected situation at work or in life with grace and calmness. The above was a small example. There are definitely bigger challenges than a 24 hour layover and lost luggage. However the principle is the same. We cannot prevent “bad” situation from happening to us or prevent “difficult people” from interacting with us. We can always choose our response and what we can do next. So why not choose to see things from a positive lens? Why not choose to be happy even when things are not perfect? If you want to learn more about how you can respond better to life’s challenges, read more about my Mental Fitness Bootcamp 🙂
Your comments: How would you have reacted to this situation I was in? How are you responding to your current challenges? I look forward to your comments
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Lei