Dancing in Adversity: Chaotic Rhythms

Dancing Through Delays: Finding Joy and Growth in Travel Chaos"

What if a simple suggestion to dance in the airport could transform your entire outlook on life? Join us as we dive into our recent adventure to Tallinn, Estonia, where a canceled flight and unexpected delays turned into a profound lesson in living lucky. In this episode, we recount how a 30-hour airport ordeal evolved from potential frustration to an opportunity for joy and growth, thanks to a shift in mindset and staying present.

Listen in as we share the highs and lows of navigating travel chaos, the importance of enjoying the journey, and how embracing the moment can lead to unexpected discoveries.

Highlights:

• Embracing the Unexpected: Our trip to Estonia began with delays and a canceled flight. This could have been frustrating, but we saw it as a chance to practice Living Lucky®.
• The Power of Mindset: Amidst the chaos, Jason spiraled into anxiety, while Jana suggested, “Why don’t we just dance?” This simple act shifted our focus from chaos to joy.
• Staying Present: Instead of worrying about future plans, we focused on the present, finding joy in the now.
• Positive Outlook: Engaging with other travelers turned our shared predicament into moments of community and camaraderie, uplifting our spirits and those around us.
• Navigating with a Disability: Traveling with wheelchairs added complexity, but we tackled these challenges with resilience and humor, focusing on solutions rather than problems.
• Overcoming Obstacles: From going through TSA twice to chugging water, we learned the value of adaptability and approaching setbacks with a problem-solving mindset.
• Greater Than Our Thoughts: By Living Lucky® and focusing on the positive aspects of our journey, we transcended difficulties and found joy.

Takeaways:

1. Stay Present: Focusing on the now helps navigate chaos with clarity and calm.
2. Maintain a Positive Outlook: Your attitude can uplift yourself and others.
3. Embrace Flexibility: Being adaptable turns detours into adventures.
4. Focus on Solutions: A problem-solving mindset helps overcome obstacles with grace.
5. Choose Joy: Even in challenging situations, Living Lucky® transforms your experience

#DeltaAirlines #UnitedAirlines #VirginAirlines #WestJet #LivingLucky #LivingLu

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The 4 pillars of Living Lucky
Believe in yourself
Believe in the people around you
Believe in your circumstances and
Believe that God is working through you, for you, and always conspiring in your favor.

*Previously Recorded

Transcript

Jana Shelfer: 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®. Good morning. I'm Jana Shelfer, I'm Jason Shelfer and we are Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer: 0:19

You are too, I wanna talk about enjoying the journey.

Jason Shelfer: 0:24

Oh yes, it's not about the destination, it's about the way to it.

Jana Shelfer: 0:29

As you all know, Jason Shelfer and I are in Estonia, Tallinn, and I just want to say that one of the speakers yesterday really pointed out it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

Jason Shelfer: 0:48

Yeah, the destination is just a point on the map. The journey is the distance between points.

Jana Shelfer: 0:54

And so this may be uncomfortable to listen to, this may be uncomfortable to talk about, but I want to talk about our day, our 30 hours in the airport. But, I want to talk about our day, our 30 hours in the airport, because, as Jason Shelfer and I were flying here, we, first of all, our first flight, got canceled.

Jana Shelfer: 1:13

Yeah, so we got to the airport around 8 o'clock in the morning and we were scheduled to fly out at 10, 30-ish, and this was after getting up in the middle of the night to finish packing, to finish cleaning our house.

Jason Shelfer: 1:25

Getting the dog ready. We have a dog sitter coming over.

Jana Shelfer: 1:28

I mean we literally had been working and the three days prior I had been editing, editing, editing, not really seeing daylight because I was trying to finish up some projects for our show and anyway. So we were kind of we were ready to go.

Jason Shelfer: 1:46

We were packing it in for work, for life and for the trip.

Jana Shelfer: 1:51

Yes, so we get to the airport and we are ready to get on the plane, and first it gets delayed, yeah. And so we're like, okay, we've got a two hour delay.

Jason Shelfer: 2:01

And we had a two hour and 30 minute layover on the first leg of the flight.

Jana Shelfer: 2:06

So we're getting to know people trying to make the best of it. And I was trying to figure out. Okay, well, if we've got a two-hour delay and there's a two-and-a-half-hour, layover.

Jason Shelfer: 2:22

What does that do to the next leg of the flight?

Jana Shelfer: 2:23

So, Jason Shelfer, is not living in the present, he's living in the future yeah. Which you can listen to our last podcast about living into your future, zach.

Jason Shelfer: 2:31

Yeah, but this was not the healthy future.

Jana Shelfer: 2:33

But he was living in an anxious future.

Jason Shelfer: 2:35

I was living in dread. I was like, okay, my plans are not working out the way I was anticipating.

Jana Shelfer: 2:41

I could feel his energy.

Jason Shelfer: 2:43

Yeah.

Jana Shelfer: 2:44

So I kept saying honey, we have my dance chair, why don't we just dance? We can use this airport and we can just dance. It would be fun, let's just dance and raise our vibration.

Jason Shelfer: 2:58

I was like in my mind I'm going to get vulnerable here and I'm going to probably make myself not come off great. But in my mind when Jana Shelfer said why don't we just dance, my mind said, why don't you shut up? I didn't say it out loud and I know that probably just sounds horrible, but logistically I'm thinking we just went from two and a half hours of layover time to be the last people off the plane in Montreal or Toronto to try to get to the next plane and be on it to get overseas. And I've got a three hour window at the backside to get to coach.

Jana Shelfer: 3:50

We don't need to get caught up in the details.

Jason Shelfer: 3:52

Well, in my mind I'm going through all these details.

Jana Shelfer: 3:55

The point is my world's just crumbling well, the more you're talking, you're getting back into it.

Jason Shelfer: 3:59

I know, because that's what happens. We get stuck in that cycle, right?

Jana Shelfer: 4:03

stuck in.

Jason Shelfer: 4:04

It's like you're and I was I was so in it and you kept saying why don't we just dance? Because you were. You were doing great there's nothing we can do about this right and so, looking back in hindsight, like it was much ado about nothing.

Jana Shelfer: 4:18

I want to add another detail here, so and everyone was loving you had gone to. He went and bought us two bottles of water yeah, two liters of water, two liters of water beautiful bottles of like water, full of minerals and electrolytes after we had already gone through tsa, gone through all of the screenings which like there's 15 of water just between, just between us here on this podcast. When you are in a wheelchair, it that takes a lot of time yeah, it's not easy it's not just a oh, we'll get through in 15 minutes.

Jana Shelfer: 4:56

No, they have to like. You have to wait for a female pat down, and then they have to take you aside and they literally have to go through every crevice of your body.

Jason Shelfer: 5:06

And every crevice of the wheelchair, and then every crevice of the wheelchair. And unzip everything on the wheelchair. Yeah, go ahead and email us about clear anyway, it's just a long process.

Jana Shelfer: 5:17

So we get there and then we realize Jason Shelfer goes to buy two liters of water, and then not only is our flight delayed, but after we sat there for about two hours and 15 minutes yeah about two hours and 15 minutes, they canceled it. And not only did they cancel our flight, but they said they pulled Jason Shelfer and I up to the counter. They're like Jason Shelfer and Jenna Shelford, please come to the counter.

Jason Shelfer: 5:44

So we did yeah.

Jana Shelfer: 5:46

They never know our last name. That's okay. We get up there and they say today's your lucky day.

Jason Shelfer: 5:52

I'm like what we're Living Lucky®, we're Living Lucky®. Today's your lucky day.

Jana Shelfer: 5:55

I'm like what we're lucky. They're like we're going to buy you a ticket on united so that you can still get to your conference united saves the day this is great. However, there's always a however they leave in 45 minutes they leave in 45 minutes and you need to go to a different concourse, which means you're going to have to exit this concourse and you're going to have to go through TSA again.

Jason Shelfer: 6:23

Not only that, you need to go back to ticketing, get a ticket, meet your luggage Like we're going to get your luggage back there, our luggage. Check that again.

Jana Shelfer: 6:33

And we had already checked, so it was already on a plane and we had to go find it. So, yeah, it was like a big old thing and so I say, okay, thank you. Thank you so much like that's so nice of you to buy us a new ticket and get back through tsa Jason Shelfer is all of a sudden in.

Jason Shelfer: 6:52

That's not gonna work yeah, and well, I'm like we're not going to be able to take the water and fifteen dollars of water is not going to break make or break anybody little detail.

Jana Shelfer: 7:02

It wasn't so the small little detail that you got hung up on I know well, you start when you get back. He had spent $15 on water.

Jason Shelfer: 7:15

It's the waste. So and now? So what it does is it points. It pinpoints these things for me. So now I know that these are things that I need to work on, and I know these things.

Jana Shelfer: 7:27

So we we exit the terminal, we go find our luggage and then we get to the point in the journey where we are to go through tsa again and we can't take our 15 waters in.

Jason Shelfer: 7:42

so Jason Shelfer mad as a biscuit so how many times do we go through life and we don't take the time to look back on? What are these little things that hang us up? The triggers? Yeah, they hang us up. They get us caught in the moments. They get us caught in these stuck in disempowerment moments and also get us in these horrible states. So I was in a just negative doom loop.

Jana Shelfer: 8:08

Oh, I know. I know, I was with you and I kept saying, let's just dance.

Jason Shelfer: 8:12

I was in grump. I was in grump zone. I can honestly say like if you said, hey, are you Living Lucky®? I would be like no, but 99% of my world I'm Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer: 8:29

Okay. So now here's the thing where it even gets crazier. I could already see where your mind was going you wanted a refund for that water.

Jason Shelfer: 8:42

I wanted a refund for that water. I wanted first class on United.

Jana Shelfer: 8:47

I was like you, give me the world. You felt wronged. I did. You felt wronged.

Jason Shelfer: 8:51

So what I did was I converted myself into victim.

Jana Shelfer: 8:54

And I said, why don't we just drink the water?

Jason Shelfer: 8:58

Why don't we drink the water? That's what we were going to do with the water. And why don't we dance while we're doing it? It's like, why don't you shut up again? And why don't we dance while we're doing it? Like, why don't you shut up again? If you say, dance one more time, I'm going to pour water on you. I'll do something else with the water. And it was like who's the jerkweed that you married? You know, looking back, I'm like what? What has happened to me, because that's what we allow ourselves to do to ourselves. Like I was doing this. I did this to me. Yes, like it wasn't the airline, it wasn't the, the plane stuck somewhere. That was just an incident that happened. And then I did all this thing with the words I was saying to myself, the thoughts I was having, the worry that was created. We literally got to Tallinn in the same amount of time.

Jana Shelfer: 9:55

Yes, now I will say that, from chugging a liter of water before going through TSA.

Jason Shelfer: 10:01

I did almost pee myself on the next flight.

Jana Shelfer: 10:05

I may have, but it's all there.

Jana Shelfer: 10:07

I may have, but it's all there. I'm glad we could laugh about it because it is all about the journey and these are the little things I mean. We all get stuck in our thoughts and our feelings. The same thing happened to me here in Tallinn. There was one day where I was just a little exhausted. We had had a full day and we needed to come home to get ready for the party. And then we went to the party and as we're coming home from the party, the footplate on my wheelchair starts making a funny noise as I'm going over different cracks and things.

Jason Shelfer: 10:51

It has slipped.

Jana Shelfer: 10:53

And my feet kept falling off of my chair, which was really frustrating, and I kept saying something's not right, something's not right and there's cobblestone roads and sidewalks and when we're traveling it, when we're walking around or rolling around, we're going over these railroad crossing different bars, different little, tiny little pieces of elevation that are just stuck up yes, and not everything is accessible, and so, anyway, there's just a lot that's going on through my mind and then, all of a sudden, my foot plate falls off my chair.

Jana Shelfer: 11:30

It doesn't fall off, but it falls to the point where it drops dragging. It's like it got dropped foot it dropped about four inches and it starts dragging on the ground. So I literally had to do a wheelie, for it was probably only three blocks. I was only like three blocks from the hotel that I'm doing wheelie and in my mind I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I'm tired, I just want to go to bed.

Jason Shelfer: 11:59

And now I have but what are we also going to do for the rest of the vacation? We don't have the tools we don't like. Where is a wheelchair repair place in talon?

Jana Shelfer: 12:09

exactly, and it's almost sunday yes, and so I'm thinking about all these logistics and Jason Shelfer just had a. We had a wonderful day today and I'll figure it out and I literally because that was your problem I wanted to say if you say that one more time, I I'm going to roll over you.

Jason Shelfer: 12:31

I'm going to figure out a way to kick you in the balls.

Jana Shelfer: 12:33

Yes, and so that was me not enjoying the journey, and it's just really. I think we need to have these discussions every now and then and laugh about them, and laugh about them. Be self-deprecating, because when I'm in it, I know you've got my back and I know you can see that I'm in it. However, I can't see that I'm always in it.

Jason Shelfer: 13:04

One of the other things is is have that compassion and recognize that hey, don't push the buttons, just have compassion for the buttons and recognize that there's a time when you're going to be in it and there's a time when your friends or spouse or just another person in the world is going to be in it. We're all human Because when we got here, 30% 40% of the people that came to Tallinn had some type of flight difficulty. Flights were delayed or canceled all across the world. We have weather issues. I mean, there's just travel inconveniences.

Jana Shelfer: 13:40

I think the lesson here is we are greater than our thoughts.

Jana Shelfer: 13:45

We are greater than our feelings.

Jana Shelfer: 13:48

We are greater than our conditions. Yes, oh yes. Snap, snap, snap, because we are Living Lucky® when we choose to be Living Lucky®.

Jason Shelfer: 14:00

It's a decision.

Jana Shelfer: 14:02

And it's about enjoying the journey.

Jason Shelfer: 14:04

And the quick the one of the things is is when the quicker we decide that we're living, lucky we are, so just choose it there we go have a great day.

Jana Shelfer: 14:15

Thanks for joining us.

Jason Shelfer: 14:16

We'll see you soon, bye-bye.

Jana Shelfer: 14:18

If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at www. livinglucky. com.