I found myself in a full power sprint to make it to my BUF gate in time.  I made it with a few minutes to spare only to find that the flight was delayed.  I amused myself prowling around the shop and found these oh-so-me sunglasses.  I decided to go get some breakfast.

I was enjoying my vegetable omelet when I noticed a sort of handsome grey-haired politician on a full profanity-filled spitting, almost growling rant on his phone.  He was talking about this article:    http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1533630524/Council-majority-worries-over-influence-of-Buffalo-philanthropic-groups-refuses-to-accept-funds.     I cant say that I blame him for being annoyed with this situation.  He had me laughing so hard with the insults that he was hurling in his description of the situation to the other person on the phone.  Insults so politically incorrect that I don’t feel comfortable putting them in writing.  When he completed his call, he looked up in horror to notice me blatantly staring at him, realizing that I had heard most of his conversation.  I gave him a cheer with my coffee to let him know that I “got it.”  “God Bless America!”I said. I got a nice laugh out of him. I felt like maybe I had lightened up a stressful day a bit for him. I laughed halfway to NYC thinking over his insults and hoping that I remembered them later to share with people I thought would get it.

The time spent with my colleagues and our clients went swimmingly.  This is a substantial purchase from a client that we have been working with for over 10 years.  The clients were excited and extremely happy with their purchase. We were all feeling good about our day. 

My work day ended early and I took a car to the airport with them, laughing and joking about everything from
spittoons to chewing tobacco.  As we pulled in to the airport, our Town Car driver took the time to roll down the
window and yell at a limo driver who he felt was not following procedure making a dropoff.

“You’re a limo driver, you’re a LIMO DRIVER?”
“Yes.”
"NO, you’re a
*expletive!*  A dumb, stupid
*expletive.* “ “You’re no limo driver!”  

We all had a fabulous laugh and hugs all the way around as we went to our separate terminals.  I was alone as I
strolled in to Delta to check in. I was about 3 hours early for my flight, but that was fine with me.  I had a nice
book to read, and I was just thrilled at the success of the day.

 I stopped in to Slip Mahoney's Irish pub and sat quietly sipping a drink,
reading my book and nibbling on an appetizer of an interesting bean-based chili with Fritos lining the middle of the bowl. My quiet time was
short-lived.  In walked a brother and sister worthy of a Saturday Night Live skit. I am guessing that they were in their mid-sixties.  The sister walked right up to a clearly gay twenty something man and put her arm around him. 

“Hey honey, ya got a girlfriend?” 
“Um,no.” 
“Do you want one?”
‘Um, its complicated,” he said.  

 If you know me for five minutes you know that at the sight of this I launched in to a loud laughing fit and made a complete spectacle of myself. 
 
Meanwhile, the brother told me about his various girlfriends and wives over the years, and about what he did and did not want in a mate.  The gay guy scampered off and the sister came over to tell me more about her brother's various ex-wives and girlfriends in alarmingly descriptive yet fascinating detail.  The sister took off in search of another twenty something. I decided it was time to relocate with some coffee.
 

I went over to the gate armed with coffee and my book and sat down for a while.  Shortly I heard the words that every traveler dreads but are somewhat inevitable at LGA: Your flight is delayed two hours.  

I was absolutely determined to find a way to enjoy the time imposed by this delay.  You have probably seen the massage chairs in the middle of the airport.  I was pretty skeptical about whether I could relax enough for this to work straddling a chair in the middle of chaos.I was also fairly skeptical about the skill level of the women doing the massages.  How good could an airport massage be?  The woman was about the size of a large pen. 

She sounded alarmed when she started.
 “Oh my God."
*Long pause……..*
"Oh my God. You NEED this.”  
  
She pulled the tension from my neck, back, arms, hands and head.  She beat the tar out of me.  When she was done I felt fantastic.  I kind of wanted to stay in that chair forever, but I pulled my face out of the donut hole they put it in and got reacquainted with the chaos around me. 

Strolling a bit with my head foggy from the massage, I found that LGA Delta terminal has a new set up in the middle of the gates.  It sort of looks like a sushi bar.  There are Ipads free to use, and you can order food and drinks from those Ipads and pay right there with your credit card.  You can plug in your phone to charge too, all within full view of your gate.  I pulled up a seat.

There was a guy to my right, a young salesman that reminded me of my brother Steve when he was in
 high school.    Kind of like a Ferris Bueller-type character.  Steve is still extremely fun loving, but this guy had the over-the-top humor, gestures, and volume that most of us tone down a bit by the time we reach our thirties.  He asked about my day, and we toasted and celebrated my success. 

To my left was a forty-something guy that reminded me of my brother Steve when he is in work mode. Steve has a pretty serious job, and he is a very formidable and tough negotiator.  I hear this guy to my left on the phone and think, “Ive got high school-college  Steve on my right and Ive got work Steve on my left.”  The guy was an attorney making a deal.I almost felt sorry for whoever he was dealing with on the phone.  When his business call was finished, he wanted to know what the cheering and clinking of glasses was about and joined in. 

“I had a successful day
too.  Its time for a party in this
little corner of LGA,” he said. 
“Work hard play hard,” he added.

 I ordered a really nice glass of wine and some avocado toast.  Avocado toast is bread with smashed avocado, chili flakes, and lot of garlic.  Oh my goodness. Heavenly. We shared stories about our jobs, our towns, our
families. The LGA Delta Ipads at this area have a feature that monitors your flight while you are sitting there. 
We all monitored our flights and were hardly phased when all three of our flights were further delayed. 
We were all having a great time until I heard my name being paged.  It turns out that as fabulous as the
whole Ipad setup is, you really cant count on them to monitor your flight.  I ran off with hurried goodbyes to my
new friends and dashed over to just barely make the flight. I was the last person to sit down.

I was pleasantly suprised that my flight seat mate was a wonderful Canadian woman who happened to be dating someone who lives a block from my house.  Small world! 
She asked me about good places in walking distance. 
 
We exchanged information and agreed to meet at this delightful Tiki bar, at Stockmans on Transit Road some time in the summer.  
 


 

A friend posted this Kurt Vonnegut quote on Facebook today.  I think it pretty much sums up the day.

Recently a column was written by Jennifer L. S. Weber, one of my closest friends, about some of the people who inspire her. I was honored to be among those listed. Read the entire column here: http://allthingsjennifer.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/people-who-inspire-me/ As you can see, I was in very good company!

I was even more honored when I read the specific paragraph written about me. Jenny wrote:

I paused and reflected about this paragraph written by somebody whose opinion I deeply respect, and who knows me well enough to know me very, very well. The fact that she sees me like this makes me think that I am doing something right.  This is exactly how I would hope to behave, and how I would aspire to have the world see me.

Shortly after Jennifer wrote this post, I got hit with some tough life blows.  Some were new, and some were just an accumulation of some “figurative garbage” finally erupting like a volcano. The kind of things that shake your confidence and make you question who you are.  I wanted to sit down and write about these things.  But then I realized that for me, writing about something, anything, gives it life.  For better or for worse, it extends the life of the experience and the memory.  

Some writers do a wonderful job of writing about painful experiences and
making the reader feel empathy or inspiration that these situations can be overcome, turned around, or left behind. I have discovered that I am not that kind of writer. I am not even that kind of human.

I am often asked what makes me so relentlessly positive, optimistic, and hopeful through all of life’s ups and downs. Most days I feel that way. Some days I just “act is if,” and before you know it I am feeling strongly and confidently again. 

The answer for me is not to pretend that hurtful things or misunderstandings sorrow and pain never happen.  Shaking them off sometimes takes every drop of determination that I can scrape up.  I live this mostly happy sunny life by making a conscious effort to keep myself happy and sunny.  That is my job alone.  Most days it’s a reflex.  Some days it just is not that easy. Some days it is torture to get myself there. For me, the results are worth the effort. It is
always worth it.

Music. Lots and Lots of It. 

 
I actively listen to music. If I am in a bad place, classical orchestral or piano music is the way to go.  You don’t get bogged down in somebody else’s words. If I just need a boost, I will queue up some old songs that have good memories associated with them.  A little gloomy?  Some Bob Marley is always good for an attitude boost. Regular old already-cheery day?  Could be anything.  I like everything from Rockabilly to Alternative to Metal to Country to Opera. I shop every genre on my music player. I do a lot of music lists like, “Makes Me Think of Summer,” “Makes Me Want to Dance,””Beautiful Harmonies,” ”Steamy and Sultry.” I start every workday by creating a playlist to set the tone for my
day.

I go out and hear live music.  All the time.  Lots and lots and lots of it.  I feel inspired by the musicians and the energy of the music.

I play musical instruments. Playing the piano takes full concentration.  The music evokes a mood.  The movement and thought process takes me away from any stress or worry that I might be fighting with in my mind.  I also like playing my bongo drums along with my favorite tunes.  There is something cathartic about banging a drum with my bare hands.

I sing along in my car.  Loudly.  And probably badly.  Who cares, its just me, with the sunroof down once it hits 45 degrees outside. 
 

Exercise.
 I am lucky to be a lover of many, many kinds of sports including biking, all kinds of skating, weight training, swimming.  I have enjoyed solitary sports and group sports for most of my life. Getting outdoors and getting some fresh air is also good for my soul.

Dance.  
I have recently rediscovered dance.  I had forgotten how much I love dancing in the many forms that I have tried over the years.  My most recent styles attempted have included country line dancing, tap, and jazz. 
 
I seem to like tap dance most of all.  I start smiling on the drive to class, and I don’t stop smiling through the class, the drive home, the bath,and climbing in to bad on tap night. Ive stumbled on to something very enjoyable and mood elevating for me. 

Laugh. 
I will seek out books, movies, or occasionally television shows that I know will make me laugh. I love intelligent, well-written humor like a David Sedaris book.  I also dig a good buffoonish Will Ferrell, Jim Carey, or even “Hangover” movie. I loved the stupidity of “Anchor Man.”

Friends.
I actively seek out people and situations that are fun and positive. My closest friends are a happy bunch.  I don’t mean that they never have any problems.  I mean that they like to have fun.  They like me.  They make me feel good about myself just be being with them.  They are supportive and encouraging.  They also all have killer senses of humor, mischief, and adventure. They don’t spend their lives dwelling on what is wrong with the world or wrong with me.

 


No.
I do my best to actively avoid people and situations that make me feel unhappy, sad, or badly about myself.  
 I dont watch or read  the news if I am in a particularly challenging time. I dont watch war or disease movies. I dont list to music that encourages oramplifies a bad mood or depressed feeling.  I am learning to actively avoid
situations that for whatever reason, suck the life out of me.  This item needs a lot more attention and work than all of the others combined. I am getting better at it.

 
 

Appreciate.
 I am very appreciative of all of the amazing gifts in my every day life. 
I start every day with a prayer of thanks focusing on all of the good.  I pray for something that I might be working towards.  I give thanks at the end of the day for all of the good parts of the day that has passed. My prayers are positive and hopeful. 

Shake it off. 

If something hurts me or offends me, I shake it off.  I try to visualize physically shaking that problem or person off, like brushing some dirt off my shoulder. If some project doesn’t work out the way I planned after lots of hard work, shake it off and I start something new and fresh.  Or I revisit the project in a new way without looking back. 

 Bad behavior by others, hurtful and insensitive behavior, selfishness encountered in the world, in the workplace, among friends, family, even at home. Disappointment, pain, and loss. We all deal with it from time to time. I force myself to shake it off like yesterday’s dust. I forgive the people and situations that caused me pain and move on with my life.   If I keep the person in my life, I dust off their perceived offense and try to forget about it.  In the rare case I need to leave the person behind, I do that as well. I wish no one any ill-will or bad karma. I do my best to leave hurt or disappointment of any kind behind me.   

Seize the day.

I take vacations., I don’t just talk about it.  I see my friends and family. I dress up and go for lovely meals.  I go to the parade and dance on the street with the bands. I wear the costumes.  I do crazy things with my hair.  I’m in for a backyard slip n slide or a game of football. I make every day in to a celebration.  I use the good glasses. I drink the good champagne. I Iight the candles. I buy fresh flowers. I smile at everybody. I keep my eyes out for ways that I can help others. Every day is exactly what I make of it, and my mood is my responsibility.

  

I see the best in other people and in the world.  I dwell in the positive
aspects of life. This is what works for me.  Thank you, Jennifer L.S. Weber for making me see this in myself.