Without emotional health there is no health. So let’s talk emotional health while traveling on a plane, shall we? Yesterday I flew to Philadelphia on the first flight of the morning. Here’s my issue with crack of dawn flights: The day before flying, as soon as I clock out at work, I’m like “Whoop whoop! I’m on vacation.” I ALWAYS have to express my newfound freedom from a consistent schedule by staying up as late as possible. Last night after work I worked out, went to dinner with friends, packed, re-organized my purse, cleaned my ring, watched Game of Thrones, flipped through magazines, re-watched Game of Thrones because I wasn’t paying good enough attention and did laundry. This took me right up until 11:45 pm. I get the biggest high staying up past my bedtime on vacation days. Freedom is important to me, apparently.
As a result, when my alarm went off at 430 am there was no amount of coffee I could chug to keep me from feeling like I was hung over I was so tired. By the time I waited to board at 600 am, it felt like lunch time to my body. I could feel the Grumpapotamos rising inside as I noticed the insane crowd around me with the same objective: board this plane ASAP to get space for my carry on and sleep off this hang over feeling. Now remember, I’m heading to Philly, where I’ve recently learned, all kinds of characters are made. One guy was clogging up the line dancing to blaring music in his headphones. The guys behind him started yelling at him to “move it” as if they could compete with the volume of what I’d guess to be reggae music by the sway in his dance moves. To make matters worse he was making it super awkward for people to pass him because he was dancing in a lateral fashion. I have minimal patience for crowds, slow walking people in front of me, and general a$$holes in airports. People were cutting each other in line and arguing for overhead compartment space once on the plane.
In times like this one, I like to play a game with myself called Aloha Spirit. If you’ve ever seen a plane loading to take off for Hawaii ain’t no one in a rush. They line up neatly and will always allow people who were not paying attention to the boarding calls step in front of them. Aloha spirit game is defined as me repeating “Aloha Oe” song over and over in my head to calm myself down and not react to the chaos surrounding me. The chorus goes, “Aloha Oe, Aloha Oe, until we meet again!” When Aloha Spirit doesn’t work, thank God there’s chocolate in my nut mixes.
Action Steps
1) Practice healthy habits so you do feel less like coming unhinged when someone cuts you in line to bored
2) If you do experience an flare up of anger ask yourself: Is this a fight worth fighting for?
3) If you’re traveling with your partner, friends or family be kind. It’s your responsibility to not take your frustrations out on them just because you’re HANGRY.