Sunday Morning Reflections: Unmet Expectations

There's a point we all get to sometimes that happens when the frustration of unmet expectations subsides and the reality of a specific situation is simply accepted. For me, when it eventually happens there's a big *sigh*, a shrug of the shoulders and acceptance. Here's a prime example:

I'm not supposed to be in my home office this morning, writing a Sunday Morning Reflections. I should be at the Marriott River Center in San Antonio getting ready for the IUSA trade show. It all started with my wife getting sick the night before we were supposed to leave, but then Mother Nature took over.  There aren't a lot of flights out of Sarasota without connecting, usually through Atlanta. The weather in Atlanta cancelled hundreds of flights yesterday, but not without creating a little humor in the process.

My congratulations to Delta Messenger for keeping us informed, but check out the two flights we were supposed to be on above. Our original 11:20 am flight left 13 hours late from Sarasota to Atlanta boarding at 12;35 am. While our connecting flight left 7 hours late, but at least 6 hours before we would have made it to Atlanta.

When I called Delta yesterday 50 flights had already been cancelled, but they had "good" news for me. They had us booked on a Sunday morning flight today to San Antonio, since there were no more available flights to San Antonio yesterday. Common sense prevailed. Since we were only going to be at IUSA today and Monday I cancelled the trip.

But here's my point - there was a brief moment when I felt like the world was falling apart. I have been looking foward to the show for months and especially getting time with good friends, having a few business meetings on new projects and just catching up on technology, since this is the first major show after last year's Photokina. My expectations for a great trip had been crushed, and it took me a little while to get out of the funk, but it reminded me of a quote I shared in a tweet last year:

'It's not a bad life, just a bad day!"
Anon

The bottom line is we're all caught in situations from time to time when we have absolutely no control over the outcome. We can't do anything to change the path we're on except to enjoy the ride.

So, that leaves me with my usual wishes for all of you this Sunday. Make it a great day. Hug somebody close to you for at least eleven seconds and remember, no matter how disappointed you might be when something doesn't work out, teach yourself to just roll with it. 

For me yesterday, the humor of Delta's technology helped a lot. We laughed every time I got an update telling us our flight had been changed. And that brings me to one other point this morning - learn to laugh! Laugh at yourself and find the humor in the toughest situations.  Alfred E. Neuman had it right!

Happy Sunday everybody - make it a day to remember!

---