A change of attitude

I stress when I travel by plane, there I am no different from so many other people. Especially I worry when I am travelling for work and there are connecting flights and long hours ahead. This time it was a connecting flight from Amsterdam to Beijing that I missed, courtesy of bad weather at Heathrow that had us waiting on the runway for over an hour.

Last year that would have been a tragedy; I had a taxi waiting for me at Beijing airport, colleagues expecting me, appointments for which I was going to be late... but this year I made it into an opportunity. From the moment I knew I wasn't going to make that plane, I let all anxiety and worry come to the surface and then disappear by acknowledging that there was nothing I could do about it. It was like throwing my hands up in the air (Spanish style) and saying "ok life, do your worst, because I am going with the flow here".
And this is the result, the next morning (KLM put me in a hotel and gave me dinner and breakfast, I love that airline) I went into Amsterdam for a lovely and colourful stroll. A slow and quiet Sunday morning, all for me like a present ready to be opened. And a coffee and a brownie at the cutest café.

All the pretty buttons

Tiny restaurant in the basement

Massage therapy studio in heavenly corner

The Barber of Amsterdam!  I took it for you, you know

So let go, I say. Whenever you think the worst is coming, try and turn it around by looking into the possibility. And I eventually made it to Beijing.