OK, so the day goes something like this:

5:30AM Car picks you up at home to take you to a 7:50AM flight from Newark to Tampa.

5:45AM Car gets completely lost and winds up on the Palisades Parkway when they should have been on the Garden State. Not totally terrible but definitely not the best route.

5:30AM – 6:45. Driver keeps falling asleep and running off the road. Must talk to driver to keep him awake.

6:45AM Arrive at airport and find out 7:50AM flight is delayed until 1:20PM. No other flights available

7:00AM Arrive at TSA and line is HUNDREDS of people long. Make it through and hunker down and wait for flight.

1:20PM Get on plane, close door but door reopens because they need to add fuel in case we have to land at an alternate airport due to potential storms in Florida.

2:20 Still sitting on runway because routes to Tampa keep getting cancelled.

2:50 finally take off…7 hours late.

OLD RON: Stressed beyond belief over things that I can not control.

NEW RON: Too blessed to be stressed, so take it in stride.

I am not sure if it is because I am getting older or I am learning to deal with issues in life better, but things that would have totally stressed me out are starting to have a very different effect. Perhaps it is the problems of the world, the issues I am watching others go through or it is simply a matter of focus, but ability to deal with things that are not in my control is getting better with time.

As we go throughout our day we encounter many things that arise that are not in our daily plans. Unexpected events and occurrences happen that are completely out of our control and for which we have no ability to avoid. How we learn to cope and deal with them often has a profound effect on how the rest of our day or even our week is going to go. Often, when we deal with them negatively it becomes a tsunami effect and one negative experience leads to another until things escalate totally out of control. However, understanding that the issues are what they are and reacting positively to them has an influence on our ability to sail through a day and life in general a little better.

No one really wants to live a life that is mired in controversy and negativity. However, for some reason it is easier to get upset over something than it is to just let it go. We sometimes feel the need to react negatively just to feel that we have some type of control over the situation. In reality all it does is make the whole situation worse. When you look at those individual moments in time and compare them to life as a whole, they are a simple blip on the radar. So, the next time you encounter that moment that sends you down a road of despair, tell yourself you are too blessed to be stressed and see what an impact that has on dealing with the issue in a very different way.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles today.

Ron

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