Blissfully bouncing through the terminal

I’m on my way to New York City for the annual NYAC wrestling tournament. I’ve been attending this event as an athlete and coach for the past five years. Not that I frequent the Big Apple much, but I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the city. It’s too big and there’s just too much hustle and bustle for my liking. Even though I’ve been open about my dislike for the New York, I want to change my perspective and offer some optimism as I take on this adventure.

I’m not going to shower the East Coast with praise. Instead, I’m going to write about my optimism while traveling by air. Isn’t it strange how something amazing like air flight can turn into one of the most dreadful experiences of one’s life? If you think about it, we often take things that were created to be great and make them miserable. To be blunt, I think it has to do with our entitled, self-centered, narcissistic life style (sorry if that was harsh). Honestly, think about it…

I’m going to New York City and it’s going to take me three and a half hours to get there. That’s incredible. I can pull out my computer and write about my experience while it’s happening. That’s amazing. Last weekend I was in San Diego and this weekend I will be in New York – coast to coast in one week. That’s astounding. If I was in a car, this would take weeks. If this was over a hundred years ago, this would take months (and my wheel would probably fall off my wagon in the mountains somewhere).

Who are we to think we can criticize air travel. It’s really incomprehensible that this whole thing works the way it does.

I’m not minimizing the negative experiences that people have while traveling, or condoning the actions of those who exercise poor customer service. I’ve had my fair share of rude flight attendants and have had flights delayed, canceled and missed. I’ve had my luggage lost in foreign countries and been on flights that I thought were far from safe (try flying within in Russia). On these things I identify with you, however, I want to help change your perspective so that you can appreciate and enjoy how spectacular air travel actually is.

Every time I sit in the terminal waiting to board the plane, I look out and see the giant plane that I will be comfortably (most of the time) sitting in 35,000 feet above the earth. It’s mind-boggling that the science of flight actually works! That big huge piece of metal floating in the air. I think Bernoulli has something to do with it and, of course, lift force, but seriously, it just doesn’t make sense. Usually I get this unsettled feeling as the plane speeds down the runway. I wonder, “what if?” What if the Wright brothers actually had it wrong? What if this time it just doesn’t add up? Then we take off and begin ascending into the clouds and God’s creation becomes so much bigger. What I like most about flying is it makes me feel a little smaller than I do when I’m on earth. It humbles me and I think, who am I that I should not be enjoying this? Literally, I’m flying. That’s pretty cool.

Once again, I want to encourage you to be optimistic during your air travel experience. Certainly there will be a few inconveniences, but I’m fairly certain they’re worth it. Try changing your status update or Tweets from “dreadfully drudging through the terminal” to “blissfully bouncing through the terminal.” A simple change of perspective will change your entire experience.