Simple Observation of the Day:

Nothing heady, just a simple observation:

Got up early this morning to catch a flight from Tulsa to Chicago. It was dark, dreary and raining pretty heavy as I lugged my luggage (is that redundant?) to the car. I drove just on the edge of hydroplaning for 45 miles to the airport.

Flight left on time, even though there were still gray skies around and above us.

It's easy to let our environment affect our moods - gray weather can allow for a melancholy, depressing mood, especially if we are willing to let it.

As the flight took off, the captain warned us that the ascent would be rough and that the flight attendants needed to stay seated. The lady next to me grimaced at the realization she'd miss her next fix of caffeine.

People already on edge when it comes to flying probably tensed up even more - flying is stressful enough for some people and the expected bumpiness of a storm serves to compound their fears.

The captain informed us that we'd have to re-direct our flight into Arkansas to avoid the worst of the storm, taking more time for our flight back to Chicago. For people with close connections, you could hear a groan of the anticipated frustration that lie ahead.

The interesting thing is that in every stormy, drab, environment you're only 10,000 feet or a few minutes from brilliant sunlight. As we climbed from 10,000 feet through 15,000 feet, the morning sunrise we missed on the ground appeared and the gray soupy skies disappeared beneath us. The hidden sun can create the opposite emotion of gray skies - yet the sun is always there, just a few minutes away from any gray situation.

The rough flight never materialized and the captain made up the time on the flight to Chicago. Everyone made their connections, and the flight attendants did provide us with our morning pretzel pak and Diet Coke fix.

Any pain, fear, frustration, depression caused by the environment was a wasted distraction - potentially a missed opportunity for clear thought and enjoyment of the people around you.

It's always reassuring to know that clear skies are always there, you just have to appreciate and understand the full perspective of a given situation. You can spend your time submitting to your environment, anticipating the potential difficulties and fearing things that may never materialize.

It's my belief the better thing to do is to appreciate the craziness, learn from the difficulties and remind yourself of the reality that we are in control - not our environment.

Unless we submit to it.

That's all I have to say about that.