Unexpected Real Life

In our lives there are expectations; a sense of what will come next.  Every now and then, a breakdown in our expectations can do wonders to help us appreciate the good things in our life everyday, but which we don't see.  Rather, we have trained ourselves not to see.

In my travel day filled with problems - a puking child, a broken metro train, a missed flight, a different airport, no internet, no smartphone, no lunch, no time, no space (in luggage), I met this fate. There I was, standing in the uncomfortable space of frustration, suffocated by the clarity of her words, "No. The flight is closed. There is no other flight today", and I was momentarily unable to formulate thoughts with any sort of clarity of my own.

Despite the few seconds of panic which undoubtedly washed over my face and hands as I fumbled for any phone, I recognized a choice.  I might have normally let it get the best of me (and maybe even me try to get the best of her on a bad day).  But this time, I chose to stay clear, to trust in something else that I could not yet see, and to laugh at the chain of events in my day as 'real life'.

With a little help from my Robert, my taxi, my new airport, and my new flight, I still said goodbye Parigi, hello Italy, hello life - by nightfall. It's still very good to see you today.