This Road Warrior Remembers True Warriors
My plane pushed back from the gate at 6pm this past Thursday night – 4 1/2 hours of sitting on the tarmac it returned to the same gate at 10:30pm.
Nearly 24 hours later I finally made it home.
I then remembered it was Memorial Day Weekend and how quickly I forgot the lesson I learned just a couple of years ago. This post, from three years ago, will hopefully help all of us to keep things in perspective.
Original post follows…
October 2014
I just landed in Atlanta on an early morning cross-country flight. It’s been a long couple of weeks and, frankly, I’m tired. Admittedly, I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself. I’ve been on the road a lot this year – a lot! The last several days, I’ve worked in North Carolina, Washington DC, Michigan, and California and traveled on 14 different flights. To further add to my pity party, I was thinking about how the weekend was going to be cut short because I fly back out for work on Sunday.
Life was quickly put into perspective as the plane began its final approach. The flight attendant asked that everyone remain seated as a military escort, traveling with a fallen military member, disembark the aircraft.
My intent in sharing this is not to exploit the situation, but to remind all of us that we need to keep our lives and work in perspective.
As a former military member, I’m familiar with the sacrifices people make so I can travel on a plane, perform fulfilling work, raise a family, hang with friends, and occasionally feel inappropriately sorry for myself. I thought about not sharing; however, my hope is that others will benefit from putting things in perspective.
I’m going to make sure I do these 3 things this weekend. What will you do?
- Take the time to truly express thanks to my family for making my life a rich and enjoyable experience.
- Reconnect with my purpose and accomplish one thing this weekend that will make a difference.
- Reach out to someone who might benefit from some encouragement or support and offer to be there for him/her.
Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash
Patrick Leddin, PhD is a speaker, global leadership consultant, and The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Five-Week Leadership Challenge. Patrick is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University with a thriving leadership blog and podcast, and 25-years of leadership experience. He offers an unparalleled mix of academic rigor and real-world experience.