An Island Adventure...

It was awesome! I realized again today how fortunate I am to be living the life that I am. Just this week, my wife and I got back from a beautiful vacation in St. Martin in the Caribbean. It was beautiful! The water was blue, the sand was white, and the relaxation was amazing.

There are two sides to this beautiful, but tiny, island (the whole island is just 100 km2) one side belonging to the French, the other, to the Dutch. It is the smallest place in the world to belong to two different countries! Both sides were beautiful, and if you ever just need to get away, my wife and I recommend it highly!

All that said, the vacation was not without it's challenges. First we had our connecting flight on the way cancelled. There was only 1 flight to our final destination each week and if we didn't get to Toronto by the next morning, our vacation would have been ruined.

It was tempting to stomp and scream and get angry, but my wife was great. We stayed calm, got ourselves on the standby list and faithfully waited. And low and behold, we got on the flight!

Then we arrived at the resort which we thought was an all-inclusive package. However, upon checking in, we discovered that in fact we didn't have the all-inclusive package and would have to pay for food and drink (not exactly in our budget).

On the way back we had similar issues, ended up in a hotel when we should have been on our way home and went three days with little sleep.

Do we have reasons to remember the vacation for all of the problems it caused? Sure. But we also have the option to remember all of the great parts of the vacation.

The point is this: Life throws you curveballs all the time. It is rare that things will go as smoothly as you'd like. The key to being happy is to recognize this fundamental truth and accept it. Accept that things won't always go as planned and that it's ok. In fact, in many situations, the greatest things that happen in our lives, happen because we strayed from our intended path.

In Black & White
The next time things come up that you don't expect, take a breathe. Recognize that you have a choice about how you react to the situation and that getting upset doesn't do anything for you. Choose to see things positively. Look for the hidden opportunities, and let things happen. You never know what you might discover as a result.