Lost luggage: A Lesson in Gratitude

Submitted by Heidi Kistler

It was close to midnight when we arrived at Kalispell airport in northern Montana, only to discover that my husband’s luggage ended up in Timbuktu (No kidding!).   This grim news arrived after 12-plus hours of traveling, the insides of three airports, crying babies, cramped seats, and limited meals.  Needless to say, it did not sit well with us.

While waiting at the now-deserted airport, completing lost luggage forms and becoming increasingly cranky, I flashed back to my earlier thoughts that day while flying over the mighty Rocky Mountains.  How desolate, awesome, endless, inhospitable and fierce these mountains are, especially to the early pioneers who left the known for the unknown and a new life, traveling in a manner few of us could survive today.  Their grueling journeys lasted months and, if they were lucky, they arrived at their destinations with their family members alive …only to be faced with other survival issues.

They didn’t worry about lost luggage, in-flight meals, or delayed flights!  They were just thankful to arrive in one piece.

I thought about the pioneer women, worried about childbirth; I thought  about their families cramped in covered wagons, praying that they could traverse the mountain passes before the snow fell, terrified of getting sick, scared to death of being attacked by native Americans, hoping that the men folk would be able to bring game to the evening’s campfire.  Suddenly, when viewed through the lens of historical perspective, our little airport drama seemed so inconsequential!

Instead of being vexed, I was grateful for the privileges—technological and otherwise— that we take for granted and I was grateful for remembering how truly blessed we are.  I was grateful for this experience of not sweating the small stuff.

Questions:

1. Can you think of times in your own life when a shift in perspective helped you to overcome difficult times? What made it possible for you to do this?
2. Would you be willing to share with us some of the ways you’ve learned to “not sweat the small stuff”?

Note: If you’re not familiar with the expression “don’t sweat the small stuff”, it refers to a manner of speaking and a way of life coined by Richard Carlson, PhD in a series of books.

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