I recently started posting the occasional The Spare Room Challenge of the Day. This week, I shared a video that I took right when we realized our flight back to China had been delayed. Picture this: I’m with my teenage daughter, who’s anxious about starting freshman year of high school. I’m keen to get back to the office, which I haven’t left in over two years! And…. we’re stuck. We can’t do a thing. So we learn to roll with it.

Well, when circumstances outside of our control come crashing into our lives, we really only have two choices: 1) Fight them, or 2) Learn to roll with it. And trust me, the latter is far less painful.

Flow, don’t fight.

Easier said than done. And yet, when these are our only two choices, we can choose to invest our time in finding the flow.

Learn to roll with it, unexpected time with family

Ask yourself: What good can come of this situation? On this trip, we were supposed to fly into CA and out via NY but the flight reversed. Now, on our way out, we were grounded in LA. Hey, what a stroke of luck! We found ourselves close to my brother and his kids, and were able to spend the best quality time with mom in… well, in ever. I haven’t spent this much time with her since I last lived at home, senior year of high school.

Adapt with lightness.

NYU has been wonderful – I was supposed to teach Finance for Marketing Decisions this Fall term, in person. Unfortunately, I’ll miss the first few classes, but the school accommodated and our students immediately adjusted. No one adapts with lightness like young people 🙂 And my team at McCann Worldgroup has been superb, as they are in all things. We had some practice working remotely during the Mar-Jun lockdown, so we pivoted back to online engagements without missing a beat. You see, it’s one thing to adapt, it’s another to adapt with lightness.

Ask yourself: Do others feel burdened, and can they sense your strain? If so, take a deep breath. Rolling with it… flowing… adapting with lightness… these phrases all imply a sort of fluid weightlessness, vs. a heavy, dark gravity. This matters because a sense of burden is unavoidably contagious. And if we’re in this space when we can choose to Flow vs. Fight, we can also choose Light over Dark. Find the joy, encourage those around you, and smile. Because this, too, shall pass.

What is the latest challenge or unexpected thing that’s happened in your life? And how are you rolling with it?

Special thanks to the Delta team for rolling with it and helping us face the reality of a one-month delay! You guys are awesome!

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