I had a pretty rough start to my day. I had a day of travel ahead of me, as I heading home to New York from Ohio. I was slightly hung over (my fault), and my bus to the airport for my flight home was super late (not my fault). I ended up getting to the airport about 5 minutes before takeoff. I anxiously waited in a winding line of people, and by the time I made it to the ID and ticket check, the barcode on my phone wouldn’t work, due to my cracked phone screen (my fault yet again). I assumed all hope was lost, and I walked back to the counter to try and get a new flight home. As I finally made my way to the front of the mile-long line, I was told that, miraculously, my flight was seriously delayed due to rain.
I got a ticket printed, was able to go on the express line, and made it to my gate with no problems. After about an hour, I boarded, and was delighted to see the seat next to me was empty. I thought about how my day was turning out to be pretty great after all as I stretched out my legs a little farther than I’d usually be able to.
I went through my usual flight routine. I drank Ginger Ale, read Cosmopolitan, and listened to music on Spotify (my Justin Bieber and One Direction playlist did not disappoint). Things were going great. The baby a few seats over was quiet, my ear popping was present yet bearable, and the flight suffered barely any turbulence.
As the plane started its descent, I looked out of the window, and, as always, was struck with the beauty of the lights of New York. What I usually don’t do, however, is tear up while looking at them. Good thing the seat next to me was empty!
As I looked over the thousands of bright lights, I thought about who lived in those homes, and who was driving those cars. Plenty of people were having the best days of their lives, several people were having horrible days, and most people were experiencing both the ups and the downs of life as I had. Lives ended and began, goals were reached, and dreams were crushed. Overseeing all of those lights, and all of those people put some things into perspective for me.
Few days are ever going to be perfect, but most days will have at least a shred of good in them, and these are the moments we need to look forward to and remember. So when I look back on this day, I’ll think about my great luck in making my flight. I’ll think about the empty seat next to me, the beautiful baby a few seats down, my perfectly curated Biebs & 1D playlist, my safe flight home, and the moment I was finally able to reunited with my family after so many months apart.
Dwelling on the bad things won’t do us any good, so let's think about the light.
