Yesterday I taught a class called Setting the Course for 2023 for the UTAH RRC group at the Salt Lake City Board of Realtors. It was a Ying/Yang kind of day that could have been thought of as disastrous. But it wasn’t. It began nicely. I successfully navigated the latest “storm of the century,” I got a killer parking place at DIA, walked in the terminal and stepped RIGHT UP TO THE TSA stand with ZERO wait. With a terrible seat draw in Group B (Southwest), I was still able to secure a fabulous seat. THEN, the Ying turned to Yang. Let’s properly set the stage: I am supposed to land in SLC at 9:30, drive for 30 minutes, and teach the class at noon.
First we sat for about 25 minutes waiting for TWO PIECES OF LUGGAGE to be loaded. Next we slooooowly made our way to de-icing (more time sitting in the plane line). Once de-icing was accomplished, we were told by the pilot that ice was discovered on our fan blades and we would have to return to our gate to have it thawed. We successfully thawed and would now make our way BACK to the de-icing line. Wait, wait, wait, and finally: we are off. At this point I MIGHT walk in the door at noon. It should get better as of NOW!
Then……. I make the 26.2 mile marathon walk from Southwest to the rental car counter (seemed that long) only to have them inform me that they have no record of my reservation, even though it appears that I have a legitimate reservation number, AND we’d love to help you but we have no cars (I am at this point hearing Jerry Seinfeld saying, “that’s why you HAVE the reservation….”). So I decide to Uber my way to the class (I still might make it by 12:30). Long story, short, my Uber driver can’t seem to navigate the tricky A, B, C lanes to get to me and ends up looping the airport four times (at 5 minutes a shot). Finally we are off (at least he didn’t have to de-ice his car). I rolled into the classroom at 12:59.
Then, the Yang turned to Ying. I was greeted with a wonderful ovation (either the pity clap OR the thank God he’s finally here clap) and we got rolling. Pull up the first slide, pick up the remote, and BAM…… everything is as it should be, the universe is better. In fact, it’s now awesome again. I think class went well. You’d have to ask them.
I hitched a ride to the airport, switched to an earlier flight, and arrived home almost two hours earlier than I would have if I’d stayed on the original schedule. My ride home was easy, singing Dean Martin Christmas songs all the way. Upon arriving, I was bombarded with kisses (one from Linda and 6000 from Winston).
I’d call it a good day.
They say that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. That may be true, but I think that when you love what you do, every single day has the potential to be the best no matter what the outside world tosses your way.
Thanks to Terry and Art at Utah RRC and to everyone who hung in there waiting to Set The Course for 2023.