Did I tell you about the time I was stranded at the Midway airport in Chicago, Illinois?
This seriously happened during the first quarter of taping, and interviews for the photography campaign.
I experienced a week of traveling across the Midwest collecting stories, and it was time for me to fly from Chicago back to Dallas (where I was living at the time).
The weather was clear until the morning I was scheduled to leave. I sat in the airport that afternoon as flight after flight was being cancelled. I stared at the screen as if it was a terrible nightmare. I was due to return to work the following day, but here I was sitting on the edge of the moving walkway at the airport.
The airport is about 90 minutes from my hometown, and since the weather was terrible I had a few options. Sleep on a friend’s couch (hopefully they would answer), or sleep in the airport.
Thank God I had a friend to answer my distressed call. I caught a cab from the airport, to his job, and then to his apartment. When my friend arrived home after working his 3rd shift job we laughed non-stop for hours. A laugh we hadn’t shared in years!
I was able to catch a flight the following afternoon, so the rat race was back in motion. My bags were already in Dallas, so the only thing I was responsible for was my book bag, and the same clothes that I had on from the previous day. Grandma taught me to always keep an emergency kit in my carryon bag. You know the toiletries, and a spare pair of undergarments.
That whole experience taught me that setbacks will happen. I couldn’t get frustrated. I mean I could have but how would that solve my current problem? The main thing was to stay calm, and ride the course of this setback. That setback allowed me to reconnect with an old friend, and review the material/interviews that I collected that week.
I can look back and reflect on that situation because it taught me that setbacks will occur but they will be your reminders that you’re comeback will be so much greater.
XOXO,
RJ
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