My life is beginning to feel like a mash-up of “Groundhog Day” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”.

For the third time in two weeks (between me and Tina) a trip to the airport was canceled, or at least short-lived.

Yesterday I was all set to leave New Hampshire for San Diego, where double-digit temperatures are the norm and…hell that was enough for me!

It was supposed to be a couple of days spent with a good friend from halfway around the world. We’ve never actually met face-to-face. The plan was to brainstorm my marketing strategy as I continue to build the on-line education and customer engagement components of my speaking career.

Here was the reality.

After a sketchy night of sleep punctuated by the occasional panic of “Was that my alarm, am I late?”, I showered at 3am, dragged my suitcases down the snow-covered deck stairs and rumbled off through the slush to the airport.

After checking in and waiting for security to open, I got a text from the ever-vigilant Tina: “Your 5:05am take-off is already delayed a half-hour, you’re probably not going to make your connection in Philly, the next flight to San Diego is at 6:30pm…and it is already sold out.”

Ugh…decision time.

Do I try to patch together a series of flights, which could cause my trip to span more than a day, only to arrive and then have and equally tough time getting home with this weekend’s expected snowfall?

(By the way, I have a friend whose been trying for THREE days to get home from Florida).

How we act, react, overact…all comes down to our choice of attitude.

The woman at the US-Air counter did her best, she was most pleasant and helpful.

Several of us who were most affected by the initial delay were gathered around her, listening for alternatives.

Nothing was working.

I told her I was willing to cancel the trip, as my window of opportunity was already tiny.

The other passengers chose to roll the dice and ride out the delay.

As the woman handed me my paperwork, I exclaimed “Hey, at least my car is probably still warm!”

The man behind me commented on how I was able to keep a positive attitude.

It’s a choice.

And we all have it.

I’ve seen people handle similar stressful situations with class and patience…and I’ve seen people morph into Olympic-caliber a**holes over the tiniest inconvenience.

How are YOU handling the week, the weather, the winter?

Every day we make choices of how we react to things.

I was at peace with my decision.

It means I will miss the opportunity to spend time with a friend who graciously offered to spend time helping me and enjoy a planned ‘acts of kindness’ mission…but it also means I was here today to take care of snow removal for myself and my family.

It’s all in how we think, act and react.

For me, it even brought a laugh as I paid for the “Shortest-term long-term parking ticket” ever.

As a final note, I continually checked on my flight throughout the day: it didn’t leave Manchester until after 2pm…a nine+ hour delay.

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to real life…buckle up, it might get bumpy.

We hope you choose to enjoy your trip.