Adventures in traveling...

Have you ever felt so sure of something you would bet on it and not give it a second thought? Yesterday, I was positive I was scheduled to fly from Bangkok back to the US at 1:30 a.m.--so sure I organized the van from the hotel to the airport for myself and three colleagues who were also scheduled to fly out during the wee hours of the morning.

On our way to the airport, we were discussing our flight times and my colleague mentioned another one of our colleagues leaving on the same airline as I but at a different time. The colleague questioned my flight time since our other colleague's flight time was within a few hours of mine. So I scrounged around and found my e-ticket which revealed my flight was at 5:30 a.m. instead of 1:30 a.m. At this point we were halfway to the airport...so I started laughing. The colleague who initially questioned me seemed shocked that I was laughing...little does he know this is a common occurrence in my life--travel plagued with adventure and mishaps.

We all had a good laugh out of the whole scenario and the laughing and camaraderie made the trip to the airport worthwhile, despite the fact I had to sleep in the airport lobby across a row of chairs until 2:30 a.m., at which time I was able to check in for my 5:30 a.m. flight.

Although I am still not sure how I ever got the idea of my departure at 1:30 a.m., I blamed it on the fact I have been in a different country each week the past four weeks. The fact my plans didn't quite turn out as I originally thought, I could still laugh because I knew this was something I couldn't change at that particular moment. All in all, the serenity prayer states it well--

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr