Night 23

Night 23 doesn’t merit a story but it kicked off the adventure I am about to go on….

This adventure began the same way most do for me– tumbling out of bed realizing I slept through my alarm clock. It’s 7:45am and my flight time is 8:45.  I call a cab while throwing on the first dress I can grab and zipping up the suitcase I had 87% packed the night before. I shoot out the door and jump in the cab saying, “LAX. I have 50 minutes before my plane leaves. Am I crazy for thinking I can do this?”

“Yes.  I believe in opportunities.” Cabman laughs at me.

I wasn’t really listening but later as he took what seemed to me the worst route when we were just ten minutes out from the airport, I asked again. “Wait. Did you really just go this round about way to get me here?  I have 25 minutes. There’s no way I’m gonna make it.”

“Yes.  You will be given opportunities. Don’t worry.” He said with a smile.

I looked at him like a crazy person but nonetheless tipped him well. (because I didn’t have time to waste on change? Or perhaps subconsciously knowing his words meaningful?) I jumped out of the cab and ran into the airport.

Standing in line at Delta, I found myself with 3 options from a lovely employee who laughed when I asked if I could make the flight.  When I repeated the crazy cab driver’s answer, her eyes showed a genuine interest in helping and this is what I got:

1 – Cancel. Go home. I wasn’t so stoked on Hawaii anyway and I met a cute boy I could see again here. “Angie, you’re run down anyway. Just stay. Don’t be crazy. This is what you wanted.  You said you didn’t want to go.” My friends pushed when I called with my quander.

2 – Pay $900 and fly out tomorrow. Maybe go kiss the boy(I mean it is my lucky love day), pack properly and fork over money I had just been paid for a small job I’d done.

3 – Pay $50 get on the next flight to Salt Lake City – yep Utah then from there head on up to Seattle where I’d finally board a plane to Honolulu and make it to Hawaii by evening.  An added 8-10 hours.

I decided to go with the adventure and respect for my old boss who’d invited me on the trip and I headed to gate 14C to go to Utah.

I pulled out the book that had arrived in the mail that day and decided I’d use my flight time productively. Ok. Fine. I slept the first leg. 3 hours later I found myself  immersed in the writings of Joseph Jarowski.  Crying tears of relief on that  2^nd plane, I read  a story that touched me to the core as it seemed to explain everything I had been questioning about my life in the past year. I was inspired! Had I gone straight on my flight, I know me and would’ve slept my flight to Hawaii and probably wouldn’t have opened the book.

Part 1 of Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership  began with this:

PREPARING TO JOURNEY

WHATEVER YOU CAN DO, OR DREAM YOU CAN, BEGIN IT.  BOLDNESS HAS GENIUS, POWER, AND MAGIC IN IT. – GOETHE

Goethe – who had been the subject of one of my first essays in junior high.

The next sign hit hard – opportunity. The word seemed to scream off every page. It was all over them. “Be alert, be self aware, so that when opportunity presents itself, you can actually rise to it.”

The cab driver was alert for me this Friday morning…and he may not have known if I’d miss the flight but he knew before I did that it didn’t matter.  There would be an opportunity.

The next sign came in the form of an Ad out of my Conde Nast Traveler – another last minute grab as I was running out to catch my cab –

Vision. Distinction. Dedication. Passion. Inspiration. Innovation. EDITION.

The ad caught my eye when I saw passion and inspiration my two favorite words but when I got down to Edition I got another knock over the head since my trip was to see the opening of Marriott’s newest hotel chain, Edition.

And here I sit at 1am settled in and ready for what opportunities the Edition will set forth tomorrow!