(Ed Rush) – I am writing this on American flight #2034 from San Diego to Dallas.
We just did our 3rd “turn in holding.” Between us, I haven’t taken a “turn in holding” since flight school.
I just looked at our flight path and it looks like something my 6-year-old JoJo drew.
So as we make our turn here at 23,000 feet above Texas (or Oklahoma – we’re all guessing at this point), I thought I would make good use of the time and share some musings about this wild, wonderful country of ours… where we are, and more importantly, where we’re going.
Let’s roll…
At this point in the flight, folks are starting to come unglued.
We left 3-minutes early out of San Diego and now we’re going to be (at least) 30-minutes late.
That means I have exactly 4 minutes to make my connection from Gate C22 to C27 in Dallas. That’s fine. I’ve been training for this moment since middle school dodgeball.
The couple next to me is going to miss their flight. Some lady back in Seat 14E just made a joke about American Airlines being always late. Someone else said, “DFW is cursed.”
They’re getting restless.
But here’s the deal: I have a simple rule, don’t complain about travel delays. Ever.
I mean, come on: we’re in a tube flying 500 MPH, 4 miles above the Earth. That’s a legit miracle.
Plus, it’s not the airline’s fault that someone put a city in the center of Thunderstorm Alley. (Or is it TWO cities? I never get that one right.)
Anyway, I find travel a lot more peaceful if I’m not whining or worrying.
And you know what? The same is true for America.
I mean, think about it: America is a miracle country. It’s set in the midst of the most perfect real estate on Earth.
The best people live here. We invented the airplane, and we perfected cheese fries. (You heard me right, Canada.)
Plus, we happen to have the most excellent Constitution in the world. Not perfect, but very, very excellent.
Now, can we do better? Sure.
Do we need some improvement? Absolutely.
But one thing is for sure: complaining is not going to change anything about it.
This is one reason why I have been so critical of Congress: there are a lot of people with ideas on what’s wrong and very few with ideas on how to fix it.
I’m behind the ones trying to fix it.
Mr. Rush is a marketing expert, keynote speaker, and five-time #1 best-selling author. He is renowned for translating the high-performance strategies and focus he developed as a decorated Marine Corps F/A-18 fighter pilot into actionable business and leadership principles.
