Flight Delay … It Happens to the Best of Us

When dealing with personal flight delay, the book “Habitudes” has a few ways to help you through.

Photo by: Elizabeth Harris

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It has always been a struggle for me to pick up a book, no matter the size, and read the whole thing.

All the student workers in my office are currently reading the book, “Habitudes, the Art of Navigating Transitions,” by Dr. Tim Elmore, and I’m really enjoying it.

The chapter I just read is called, “Flight Delay.”

As you may guess, this chapter relates flight delays to the setbacks we experience in our lives.

Elmore writes about how often people tend to set high expectations that blur the lines of reality.

He reminds us that we are not in control, life is not perfect, and never will be.

If we don’t prepare ourselves for the unexpected flight delays in life, we will be smacked in the face with reality when it happens.

The truth is, no matter how much time we spend planning out every second of our lives, there is always something that will interfere with our plan.

Elmore says, “We must strike a balance,” and then quotes a New York Times bestselling author, Tonya Hurley, “If you expect nothing, you can not be disappointed. Apart from a few starry-eyed poets or monks living on a mountaintop somewhere, however, we hall have expectations. We not only have them, we need them. They fuel our dreams, our hopes, and our lives like some superficial energy drink.”

This quote spoke directly to me.

One of my biggest struggles is selling myself short so that I won’t have to come anywhere near self disappointment.

Elmore then goes on to explain that the solution to this is to learn how to adapt.

“We must balance how we possess expectations, but also realize that a wonderful gift may not be wrapped as we expect.”

I think this chapter teaches us how to be realistic with our expectations.

It is good to have expectations for one’s life in order to succeed, but balancing those expectations is important in order to prevent major setbacks when something doesn’t go according to plan.

We need to be able to adjust to the curveballs that life throws at us, and Elmore does a fantastic job of explaining that.

As I continue to read this book, each chapter has something applicable to living a successful life.

I would recommend this book to any young adult looking for a good read, and looking for a helpful array of advice on how to approach life’s coming challenges.