Travel Frustrations Lead to Opportunity

Happy New Year!

Wow I cannot believe 2015 is here! I bet you in a year from now I will be saying, "Wow I can't believe 2016 is here!" hahaha

A couple quick updates before we get to this weeks blog:

1 - I have been getting inquiries asking when I will be hosting the next Six Weeks to Your Greatest You program?  The answer... The first week of February!  Signups will open up towards the end of January.  Keep your eyes open for enrollment opportunity as this program fills up fast.

2 - To answer your questions, Yes You can still join the Zero Limits Mastermind.  Click here to learn more. The group members are all awesome and doing some really extraordinary things.  This group is only for those of you who want to make 2015 an Epic year.

  3- Lastly, I love saving the best for last, I mentioned in my Christmas blog the idea of bringing in one of my best friends to do the occasional guest blog and share some personal stories about me along the way.  There was a ton of positive feedback about the idea so I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to my very very dear friend, Macie Berlin. Some of you may recognize Macie's name as I have referenced and supported her non profit HEEAL in the past.  In fact, HEEAL partnered up with me when I did the first International Trash Clean Up Day back in 2011.  Macie's first post will be next week.  I am really looking forward to what she comes up with as she is an extremely talented writer. 

In the meantime, I asked Macie to write up short bio to introduce herself to you all.  Here is what she came up with:

Macie is your average Feminist Studies and Exercise and Sports Science major from UCSB. By average, she means she's a walking contradiction. She loves all things sports and competition, and she is also a passionate philanthropist and activist. Most important, she is a nerd at heart. Macie coaches and runs character development programs from high school girls soccer players, and she continuously pursues her favorite activity - writing. Macie's various, but important passions include her non-profit organization, H.E.E.A.L. (Hope through Exercise, Energy, and Art for Life), which serves to fund other organizations who promote and provide exercise and art outlets (www.heealsb.org). They also include her podcast, Dropping the F Bomb (www.droppingthefbomb.org), which delves into modern-day feminism with a little bit of an attitude, and her blog, Lifestyle of the Torn and Triad, which follows her journey through her 3rd knee surgery in her 20s (http://lifestyleofthetornandtriad.weebly.com/blog). Macie will also be starting as a contributor for Elite Daily (www.elitedaily.com).

Ok on to this weeks blog...

I went up North, to where I grew up, to visit my Mom, Brother, and Nephew for Christmas. I only make it up there about once a year, the reason being is, well to be frank, traveling up there can be a pain in the ass.  

To fly up there you have to fly through two of the most delayed airports in the world, San Francisco International Airport, and little tiny Eureka/Arcata airport that is technically located in McKinleyville (Humboldt County joke). If everything is on time I can make it door to door in about 4 1/2 hours.  BUT, if there is a hiccup it can turn into an event like the one that happened this recent trip, which leads to a full day of airports and travel.

I was supposed to leave for Santa Barbara early Sunday morning and be back in town by 10am.  Saturday morning (December 27th) I got a text message saying that my flight had been canceled.  The next available flight they could get be on was not until Tuesday, December 30th!!  


I am not going to lie... I was bummed... this was the last day with my family and I was going to lose out on it now because the airline could not find crew to operate the plane.  

I'll make a long story short and summarize the rest of the day: I left my Mom's house at 11am to drive to the airport to rent a car. I then had to drive to Redding California (about three hours) and bring my Mom with me as the airport would not let me rent a car one way.  I get to Redding, grabbed some food and checked my Mom into her hotel (My Mom cannot see very well at night. I put her up in a hotel so she could drive home in the daylight and well rested).  I had just sat down to relax for a few minutes before catching a cab to the airport when I get a text message saying my flight out of Redding was now delayed.  (I may expand on this more at a future date depending on how the airline handles reimbursing me for expenses incurred because of this). I eventually make it to SFO 10 minutes before the Santa Barbara flight leaves.  I sprint through the terminal make it onto the plane just in time and make it into my bed about 1am.  Like I said traveling to where I grew up can be a pain in the ass.

Ok, so why I am I sharing this travel odyssey with you all

Well a couple reasons:

When I got the initial text message that Saturday morning, I could have gotten angry, I could have gotten pissed off, I could have focused on being felt like I was being robbed of the time with my family, but what would have that gotten me? A whole lot of exactly what I was focusing on. I would have likely spent the day angry, pissed off, and missed out on the time with my family.

Instead I told myself, "I must make the best out of this situation."  So what happened instead was I got a chance to visit the memorial bench for my Dad that one of his best friends got commemorated for him.  Then I got to have some quality time with my Mom I would not have had. Prior to leaving, I got to witness  both my brother and my nephew jump up and offer to help me out.  When I got to the Redding airport, all three of the airline employees working there shook my hand and thanked me for being so pleasant and cheerful.  They commented that it was not often that they saw someone smiling and happy after having the travel challenges I had had that day. Because I was nice they helped me out with my flights as much as they could which ultimately led to me making my flight to Santa Barbara (2 minutes later, aka the back of the plane, and I would not have made it).

Events like this that happen are just that, they are events that happen and are often out of your control.  The only thing that you can control is how you react to the event.  

If I would have gotten angry and been mad the whole day, no one would have blamed me, but look at all that I would have missed out on. I believe that when events like this happen, they are opportunities in disguise, opportunities to help us solidify the reality we want to live in.

I want to live in a happy, fun, and loving reality, so those are the things I focused on and did my best to make the experience just that: happy, fun, and loving.  If I wanted to live in an angry, pissed off, and frustrated reality I could have focused on those things and had that reality more deeply solidified.


The only reality you ever live in will be the one you choose to create.  The reality you create will be built out of what you choose to focus on.

What type of reality do you want to live in?  How would you have handled my situation and why?

Remember next week will be Macie's blog debut.  Please support her and show her the same love that you so graciously show me.

Enjoy the pics, they are all from Northern California where I grew up.

Carpe Diem,

Jesse 

http://www.jessebrisendine.com
http://www.facebook.com/1year1000challenge