A Chance To Practise What I Preach

Dear guest, we regret to inform you that your AirAsia flight AK 354, scheduled to depart from Jakarta (CGK) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) on 14 June 2023, has been rescheduled due to operational reasons. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. This flight is now scheduled to depart as outlined below:

New Flight Time

Flight number: AK 354

Departure Date: 15-Jun-2023

Depart from Jakarta (CGK): 00:00hrs, local time

Arrive in Kuala Lumpur (KUL): 03:10hrs, local time

This was the message that greeted me just as I got into the Taxi, looking forward to catching the last flight out of Jakarta and getting back home in Kuala Lumpur at a sane hour to get at least 5 hours of decent sleep and be on time for an 8.30 am meeting tomorrow.

Alas, that was not happening. As soon as I saw the message, I realized I was in for a sleepless night. I had feelings of anger, irritation, and frustration welling up for a few moments.

“Why does this have to happen to me; I should never have booked Air Asia. I should have booked the other airline…blah, blah, blah,” my transactional thinking mind was ready to get into overdrive and spoil my mood.

Until my observing mind gently reminded me that there was very little I could do. The situation is not in my control, so why spoil the mood after a perfectly productive day?

What am I in control of?- my feelings, emotions, and how I respond. I just wrote about this a few days back in my blog post What’s in your control.

The negative feelings have long been neutralized.

Now, here I am, sitting in a nearly empty low-cost airline terminal, at peace with myself, grateful for the opportunity to practice what I preach. I feel surprisingly content and happy !!!

To understand the Thinking and Observing minds, refer to my blogpost-The Tale of our two minds.