Sometimes when things don’t go the way we plan them we give up. It’s easy to fall into resignation and focus on what we’ve lost when our planned path becomes interrupted. This past weekend I had the pleasure of being the opening keynote for the inaugural Kenniebrew Conference at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. My journey there and home were an adventure, and definitely not the planned path to say the least.

Leaving my home airport, in Atlanta, our flight was delayed leaving us an extremely tight window to make our connecting flight which was to leave at 6:15 pm that evening. If you’ve ever been to Chicago airport, you know that it is not only a large airport, but there are no trams or trains between terminals. When we arrived with only 30 minutes to spare (and a 21min estimated walking time to our next gate), a fellow passenger and I decided we were absolutely going to make that flight. We power-walked that airport like two mall walkers doing morning laps, and we indeed make it to our gate, breathless, legs burning only to find that THIS plane was also delayed. We had a good laugh and bonded in the partnership which empowered us to stick together to get there. Our flight eventually made it to Springfield, and I thought the adventure was over. Little did I know there would be another adventure trying to get home.

After an amazing conference day, I quickly made it back to my hotel to prepare for an early morning departure back to Atlanta (with another layover in Chicago). I opened my app to check in and was surprised to find that my morning flight would be delayed for 3 hours moving me from a 6:15 am departure to a 9:37 am departure time. While I was initially glad for the additional hours I would get to sleep, my relief turned to disappointment learning that this would have me miss my connecting flight and delay my return home another 4 hours. Normally, I would not be bothered by such a delay, however, I was very much looking forward to getting back home to spend the afternoon with my 8-year-old son as I had promised him. A bit disappointed, I notified my friend to take care of my son and prepared for the next day of travel. Laying down that evening, a question flashed through my mind “what would have to happen so that I could make my original connecting flight?”. Without further contemplation, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning to prepare, a lingering disappointment at my late arrival loomed. Again, the thought up, “what if there was a way I could make that original flight?” This time I didn’t dismiss it. I looked at the time of departure of the original flight and ran a few scenarios through my mind. Scenario 1, the connecting flight was delayed (much like my arriving flight). Scenario 2, our flight out of Springfield leaves early and arrives early enough for me to make the flight. Both scenarios were a long shot, but there was something in me that held the possibility of one of them being true.

I arrive at Springfield airport. There were very few passengers, so when the boarding call began it went unusually fast. “Could we be leaving early?” I thought. As we began taxi-ing on the runway, I noticed that we were in fact ahead of schedule, and when the flight attendant said that our flight time would only be 34 minutes, something awakened in me. I began to see that there was a real possibility of making the original flight. I immediately began plotting how I would make it from my gate to the departing gate which was not as far away as the gate that I had run to coming into Chicago from Atlanta, but was indeed a trek. I mapped the route and began to visualize the plan. I’d call my inner mall walker once more and book it once we touched the ground. It was a solid plan. I sat in the plane and visualized my success over and over, becoming more confident I would actually get to spend the afternoon with my son.

I arrived at gate B9, breathless and with my legs burning once again. They were just beginning to board. Out of breath I hailed the check-in attendant and explained my situation. “I was originally supposed to be on this flight connecting from Springfield and the flight was delayed…” before I finished my sentence he had already understood the assignment. He said, “let me get everyone boarded and see what we can do”. Well, if you’ve read the title, you probably know the ending. After all, was said and done, there were indeed a few seats left and I could walk on standby status. As I flew home, I recognized that I had had two choices when I learned of my original delayed flight from Springfield… give up, sulk in disappointment, and spend an afternoon wishing I had gotten my earlier flight, or questioning what was so and turning seemed like impossibility into possibility. My NLP training has taught me that even the most far-fetched things can be possible with a little intention, structure, and focused action. Neuro-linguistic programming teaches us that where our attention goes the energy flows. When we focus on what we want to happen, we can often see the solutions much more easily than when we focus on what we don’t want, don’t have, or have lost.

Today, I invite you to look at the seeming impossibilities of your life, and ask the question “what if…?” Imagine scenarios where what you want could happen. Play them out in your mind several times. You might find that the solution was right in front of you the entire time.

Master your inner voice, and help others do the same. Join our next Mind ReMapping NLP Mastery training and certification, and become a master communicator, trauma-informed coach, and master manifestor? Schedule a free NLP Training interest call at www.remapmymind.today