you booked your flight

Sometimes you do everything right. You are so proud of yourself! You're awesome! You just saved yourself so much money and made the best plan. Taking this night bus is totally worth it. You tell yourself all the different things you can use the money you saved for.

And when you clamber off the bus, though you may be exhausted because you actually can't sleep at all on a bus, you walk with your shoulders back and head up. Because you are just that happy with your plan. You love being spontaneous. You booked this flight as you were boarding your night bus. You're so cool and fun!

Now you're trying to check your bag and why can't you find yourself in the system? You go to ask the attendant who also is confused why your name is not popping up if you'd already purchased a ticket for the flight. So now you're in line to talk to the lady behind the counter. Waiting patiently because you're sure it's just a simple mistake. 

But then the lady tells you are not on that flight. You actually booked a flight for yesterday. 

.....

She asks if you want to book another flight but now you're crying like a child. Because actually you are exhausted and you have forgotten how to think. You were absolutely not prepared for this. And now instead of feeling proud of yourself, you feel extremely stupid. And even more stupid for being so pleased with yourself in the first place. 

You manage to pull yourself together as the woman looks at you with a pitying grimace which makes you feel just that much worse. Can you please just act like a robot and ignore the tears streaming down my face? You would have preferred to be talking to the check in machine right now. 

You hand over your card which she charges for another plane ticket. Of course this one just happens to be much more expensive. You definitely did not save any money. And you definitely could have skipped the sleepless night bus journey. 

But here we are. You grab your backpack that is way too heavy for you and lift it up on the scale. It comes in just under the weight limit. You say a small prayer to whoever is listening and retreat from the bearer of bad news woman who you are sure if very nice but you actually really don't like. Now you're wandering the airport for a nice spot to lay down, because this new flight leaves you with plenty of time to listen to other people's boarding calls.

Finally you find a small cocoon and, using your jacket as a pillow, lay down to stare at the ceiling. Because you also can't sleep in airports. What if I sleep too long? What if someone grabs my things? What if people start flying around themselves instead of the planes and I miss it? You don't know why your brain thinks this way but that's what it's thinking right now. 

You're not crying anymore. You actually feel really calm. And you take note of this. It feels really good. Instead of letting a bad situation ruin your day, you're accepting it for it is. You're focusing on what is going right rather than what is going wrong. You're happy to have some time to lay down even if you aren't sleeping. And you're still on a flight to get you where you're going. Now you even have time to get something to eat. 

You find yourself enjoying the change in plans. You remember you said you liked to be spontaneous. And here you are, booking your flight in the airport rather than before. Go you. You actually are still really cool and fun and happy. And actually, no one can take that away from you. You know that whatever happens outside of you has no power of what's inside of you unless you let it. And you choose not to. Now you're having a great day in the airport, laughing with yourself and taking this time to just be with yourself.