I boarded the airplane feeling depressed and heavy-hearted. I was unhappy over several thorny family issues, and to top it off, our dog was sick. So when the pilot’s voice came over the loudspeaker announcing there was a mechanical problem and the plane would be stationed at the gate while they tried to fix it, I mentally groaned and thought: “Great, now I’ll probably miss my connecting flight. Can’t the airlines get anything right?”
My mood got even darker.
But then an interesting thing happened. A thought began to formulate, and I can only say that it must have been an angel message from God. As I sat there feeling grumpy, it came to me that if there was a mechanical problem, perhaps I should be grateful it was caught while we were still on the ground and not in the air. I began to be grateful for the mechanics who were trying to fix the problem. I was grateful for the air traffic controllers who were diverting planes to other gates so our plane could stay at its gate and get fixed. And I gratefully acknowledged that, actually, everyone connected with this flight was working hard to see that we all arrived at our destination, not just on time, but safely.
