The way you do anything is the way you do everything. ~ David Wolfe from the book Amazing Grace.
The moment my eyes rested on these words I “got it”. Within a very short period of time after reading this I had the opportunity to see how much I truly understood the words.
Permit me to explain. Today I took a flight from my home town heading to the Midwest to facilitate an experiential weekend with about 50 people. I was scheduled for an hour and a half layover at the next airport. At least that was the plan.
The plane in Eugene was an hour late getting off the ground which of course made us late getting to our next destination. Eager to put my marathon training to the test, I picked up my luggage plane side and made a run for my next plane knowing the plane was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes.
Although I was pretty pleased with the speed at which I got to the next gate, as fate would have it, I got there seconds late. Mere seconds.
Not only was I turned away at the door, five other passengers from various other planes had the same experience of getting to the gate only to be turned away.
In that I had been reading David Wolfe’s book for the last 2 hours I was in a more flexible state of mind realizing I wasn’t going to catch another flight until morning.
One woman who missed the flight went into an absolute frenzied state and cussed at anyone within earshot. She even cussed at inanimate objects.
The words, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything” kept going through my mind.
Was I frustrated by missing the plane? For a moment, yes. But realizing the only thing I had any control over at that time (or any time for that matter) is my attitude, I chose to remove myself from the immediate vicinity this woman was in. I approached a Delta representative to find out what could be done.
There was no point in dwelling on the missed flight. Nothing at all, not anger, not prayer, not wishing, not anything could change the fact I was not leaving the area tonight.
The rep immediately booked me on a morning flight. Not wanting to spend the night in the airport I asked if they could put me up in a hotel. Not only did I get a hotel voucher, I received a hefty amount of food vouchers. Not only that I got a travel kit from Delta with all I would need plus a tee-shirt. Jackpot!
As things turned out, my evening has been extremely pleasant. I have been enjoying a quiet evening relaxing. I called home to let my sweetie know what happened. I was encouraged to enjoy my time alone.
Deciding to have dinner, I headed to the restaurant. The establishment was superb, ambiance relaxing, the meal delightful and the service exceptional. Actually, a very nice experience.
I wonder if the frenzied woman is still having a miserable experience. I can’t say for sure, but if I were a betting woman, I would bet she is still seething over the situation.
What’s most interesting is we both missed our plane and we each chose our response thus creating our experience as either good or bad.
The fact is our lives will be filled with situations we may not necessarily want yet, they happen. If, as many people believe, we influence our experiences by our thoughts, I have to wonder why I influenced missing the plane. The first thought that comes to mind is it gave me the opportunity to see how much my life has changed.
You see, years ago, I was the frenzied woman. When something would happen that I didn’t like or want I could fly off the handle without any thought to the people around me. Little did I realize how frequently I contributed to situations repeatedly turning out bad. Without understanding the Law of Attraction back then, I continually said, thought and did things that kept me in the frenzied state.
Once I started understanding how the Law works, I was able to bit by bit, step by step, make changes in my thoughts, words and actions. As a result my whole life changed for the better and continues to get better every single day.
I look back to the person I used to be and wonder if the woman at the airport will have the opportunity to see that the way she does anything is the way she does everything.
I know the way I do anything IS the way I do everything. How about you?
I would love to hear you thoughts on this. You can leave comments below.
Great post! I agree. Things happen for a reason, why not let it play out & find out why? Maybe for you this was a forced (but much needed) break?! Thanks for sharing your story.
Posted by: Jen | July 09, 2009 at 09:32 PM
Great article! Fine, everyday example of overcoming with grace and making the most of a 'setback'.
A great reminder of 'how you do anything is how you do everything' which I first heard from T. Harv Eker some years ago.
Nelie
Posted by: Nelie Johnson | August 03, 2009 at 03:17 PM
The statement 'how you do anything is how you do everything' is so powerful. Thanks for your post Nelie.
Kathleen Gage
Posted by: Kathleen Gage | August 03, 2009 at 03:28 PM