I’m still in France as I write this – and the odds look very good now that I’ll actually get on a flight departing tomorrow.  Yippee!  I won’t count my chickens before they’re hatched, but I am indeed quite optimistic after reading the latest newspaper reports.

I’m writing this quick entry to highlight a point I referred to in passing in my last posting.

For me, one of the reminders this experience brings with it is just how powerless we are in the face of nature’s great forces.  I’m reminded of the famous quote:

Life is what happens while you’re busy making plans.
– John Lennon

So true indeed.  This volcano, or the recent earthquakes in China and Chile, or the massive earthquake at the beginning of the year in Haiti, or any other natural “disaster” shows us time and again who’s really in charge – Mother Nature.  I think it’s healthy for us to remember this, and to maintain a good dose of humility. After all,

The planet does not belong to us; we belong to it.

This is a quote I read somewhere quite recently, from an aboriginal leader.  Unfortunately I can’t remember his name at this time.

We humans get all high and mighty too often, thinking we’re the ones who run the show, thinking everything is up to us.  I think we have plenty of evidence to the contrary.  This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make plans, set goals, etc.  I’m a huge fan of doing that and I have used it to accomplish great things in my life so far.  But, I think it’s a good idea to keep in mind that there are many variables we don’t have control over, and we will have to adjust along the way.

To healthy humility.

I’m writing from France where I just spent the week teaching at an Executive Education organization.  It was very enjoyable and went very well.

I am now “stranded” as a result of airport closures in the wake of the volcano’s eruption in Iceland.  If all went according to original plan, I would be in the air right now on my way back home.  But, Mother Nature had other plans for us!

As I scanned the various world newspapers this morning, I kept seeing headlines like “Travel Misery as thousands stranded across Europe”.   I couldn’t help but thinking: why does it have to be seen as misery?  Sure, for people caught at airports earlier in the week, it would have been a major hassle, but still, WE CAN ALL CHOOSE OUR RESPONSE TO THE SITUATION.

Which response would  you rather choose?  Do you want to spend your time being annoyed, frustrated, disappointed, angry?  OR, would you rather let that go and instead focus on how you can MAKE THIS A FUN ADVENTURE?  Sure, I’d like to be home to see my family.  I miss them and I want to be with them.   I really would like to be on my way there, but the situation is beyond my control.

So, I have a choice:
Spend my time being miserable; or
Accept what I can’t change and focus on what I CAN change -
my attitude and how I use my time.

I’m taking Option # 2.

To be fair, there are far worse places (and times) to be stranded than a nice small town near Paris in the springtime.  Absolutely.  But even here, I see lots of frustrated executives around me, spending all their time trying to book this train or that, find this option or the other.  It’s worth investing some time in that, but how much?  And, even while they invest the time, how about managing their emotional state differently?

More importantly, a broader level I think there’s a good reminder in here for all of us.  We humans think we’re so high and mighty.  We think WE run the show on earth.  This volcano is yet another example of how we really don’t.  The more we accept that, the better off we are, I believe.  Mother Nature has just sent us a little message, “Hey people, don’t forget who’s REALLY in charge”.

So I’m off for a walk into town.  I’ll do some reading, do some errands, and focus on enjoying myself and making it an adventure.

I wish the same change in perspective for the  many thousands who are fighting against the situation instead of accepting it.