Ask yourself these questions: Do I recognize the opportunity in each situation or feel victimized? Am I a winner or a whiner? Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
Notice that for each question, there are two choices? There may be more that weren’t listed. The point is, you have a choice. The motivation for writing this particular blog post is an all too familiar situation we’ve all likely encountered in some way or another. Yesterday I was flying home from Phoenix. Long story short, my flight was delayed for 2.5 hours due to the weather in Chicago.
Like many, my initial feeling was that of frustration…until I reminded myself that I have a choice in how I respond. First, I re-framed the situation – choosing not to label it as good or bad, but rather to accept it for what it was. The fact is, the flight was delayed, and there’s nothing I could do about that – “It is what it is”. What I could do something about was my attitude towards the situation.
What a shift! I now felt empowered, not like a victim. I recognized that I can create an opportunity with this ‘gift of time’. Hey, Sky Harbor Airport has free Wi-Fi, so I logged-on to my Mac and caught up on a bunch of the emails that I’ve had lingering longer than I’d care to admit – like the ones to my good friends – Ivan at Nutrolution and Vern at ThaiPulse to congratulate him on the impending launch of his new Thailand travel website. Then there were some reports that I needed to complete for the end of the week – knocked them out too.
“Hey Nick, it’s been a while since you’ve spoken to …” So, I called my buddy Pete in St. Louis and then Jack at Govig BioPharma. Finally, there are some great blogs where I’ve fallen behind on my reading, so I got caught up on reading/learning from Nate Riggs and downloading articles from Inc. Answers.
Holy crap! I’ve gotten a lot done and my glass is beyond half-full. I felt energized by the fact that I felt in control of a situation where I initially felt frustrated and victimized. All because I reminded myself that I have a choice in how I respond – my attitude!
By the time I boarded the plane, I was thankful for the opportunity that the airlines presented to me. On the flight home I was able to set-aside any work and reward myself, becoming immersed in leisure-reading of the book I just started.
Suffice it to say that I’m sure I felt much different than the fella that was sitting next to me in the airport. He kept calling his wife to complain about the delay, looking at his watch, and lamenting how yet again the airlines foiled his plans. Guess he made a different choice 
.
Now, I’m not saying that a good attitude guarantees success or happiness. But, a bad attitude will surely guarantee otherwise.
What choices will you make? How will you recognize that everything is an opportunity? Willing to share a story of your own in this regard? If so, leave a comment below, I’d love to hear about it and be inspired by you!
