I didn’t make my flights on Monday. Weather kept all my potential flights from landing in Dallas so I was stuck in San Antonio. So they rescheduled me for Tuesday. Then, a fire in Chicago kept me from making my flight by about 30 minutes. Stuck in Chicago one night. I will make it to India, but late.
I’m going to land in Kochi at 3am on Friday. The conference started at 8am on Thursday. That means I’ll have to power my way through one day, half of another day, then head back home on Saturday to get home on Sunday. It’ll be a long flight.
This is going to be massively inconvenient. But I’m not really upset. I’m excited.
You see, life is found in the delays and inconveniences of life. You don’t call something an adventure if everything goes according to the plan. That sort of story is actually pretty boring:
“We booked some flights for a vacation. We got there, did what we planned to do, then left.”
What an unexceptional story.
But the people I’ve met. The things I’ve done. I could already fill a book with these experiences. I’ve befriended an ex-Iraqi colonel who helped the Americans when they overthrew the Saddam regime. I met my editor from Moody… Really cool opportunities I wouldn’t have had if I’d made all my flights on time.
When you experience difficulties and setbacks, your experiences come to life. Suddenly, achieving your goal after having been put through hell makes it that much more memorable.
I encourage you. Don’t worry about delays in life. Look for the story in them. I guarantee those will be the things you’ll remember and write about. Those are the stories you can impact others’ lives with.
I remember when Anthony and I were traveling with Joel and Emily and were on a bamboo raft in a Thai river in a downpour. Joel mentioned that likely none of us would remember that ride if the weather had been great.
That was my second attempt at that river in Thailand, the first time the raft sank. I think Joel was right – whether it’s being on a rickety raft in the rain or the raft sinking, in the end it’s memorable not because of perfect execution, but because it wasn’t. Have fun in India!
Hi Jonathan,
Glad to have had you with us for these 2 days in Kochi. The sessions were really good and very helpful. Thank you for making it in-spite of all the “Adventure” 🙂 God bless you man. Cheers!