A Simple Thank You

My morning in Newark didn't start out very well.  I won't give the details, but suffice it to say I witnessed several acts of bad behavior by grown ups pretending to be children.  Actually, they weren't pretending, they WERE acting like children.  The Newark airport itself can be challenging even on the best of days, so I wasn't in the best frame of mind to begin with.  I couldn't wait to get the day over with before it had even started.

I spent the first third of the 6 hour flight to Phoenix in a bad mood.  Somewhere over no man's land I had a realization.  (This has been a good "thinking" trip for me).  I have been reading Gretchen Rubin's book, "The Happiness Project."  The book details Gretchen's year of trying to make her life happier, by changing something small every month.  I have been trying to adopt some of her ideas and suggestions, and they have really made a difference.  I decided to stop being annoyed with the people on my plane, and find my way back to happiness by developing an attitude of gratitude.

Today is the Monday before Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for, including some of the less than pleasant people on my flight.  By buying a ticket they are supporting my airline, which in turn provides my paycheck.  I decided to acknowledge and thank every person on the flight, even the ones who might not have deserved it.  I told the folks how much I appreciated that they came out to fly with us today, and I was grateful that they were helping me support my family.

My little gesture of appreciation helped to cheer me up, and I hoped it would make the passengers happier too.  The 140 mile an hour headwind directly on our nose had made us 25 minutes late into Phoenix, so I was looking for a bright side anywhere I could find it.  I don't know if it made the passengers feel any better, but it sure supported my own happiness project.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided I'm going to thank someone every day this week.  Not just family and friends, but someone that wouldn't normally be expecting a thank you from me.

I think I'll try it again right now.  Thank you for reading this blog.  It gives me immense pleasure to know that someone out there is interested in what I have to say.  And I thank myself for continuing to write the blog, even when it's uncomfortable to say certain things, or when I'm not sure that anyone is actually reading.  See, it worked.  I don't know about you, but I've got a big smile on my face.  I can't wait to see who I can guerrilla thank tomorrow.