Delayed flights are no big deal.

E+R=O is simple yet applicable and flexible in any situation. Twenty-six years into my journey, I have come to rely on and love one particular nuance of its simplicity.

As I travel the world, speaking to audiences and working with companies, teams, executives, and coaches, I encounter travel issues: delayed and canceled flights, short layovers, long lines, mistaken reservations, and impossible itineraries.

The simple nuance within E+R=O is that once an Event happens, regardless of what it is, that is the reality I embrace. It doesn't matter what it was supposed to be, what I expected, or what I wanted. The Event is whatever exists, whatever is happening. I am not shocked or offended when it doesn't go how I thought. I do the radically simple thing: I acknowledge and accept what happens.

The flight was on time. Now it is delayed. I was not expecting traffic. There is a lot of traffic. I was supposed to have a reservation. I do not have a reservation.

I've come to love the clarity and peace of this simple acceptance. And not just with impersonal stuff like delayed flights, traffic, or old ladies who insist on writing checks at the grocery store.

When my dad called one early morning in April 2020 and said, "Just got back from the doctor, and it looks like I have cancer. Stage Four. Not good.", we did not seek an escape from that reality. He accepted it, and so did I. Immediately.

No, why or what if. No, how could this happen or why didn't I. His courageous acceptance gave our family the courage to accept our new reality.

He continued that way until his death in May 2024. Always accepting reality as it came, including his ultimate and unavoidable fate, while fighting to stay as long as possible and make it as wonderful as possible. He did not like his reality but did not express anger at it. "How would that serve me? How would it serve you guys?" he would ask.

Once the event happens, and this is why E+R=O is so powerful in its simplicity, that's the reality. It might be a major opportunity, a huge win, or a great achievement. It might be a failure, inconvenience, or tragedy.

We cannot make events different than they are after they have already unfolded. The past begins the instant the moment passes. Once the event happens, that is the reality we must work with. The faster we accept that the better and sooner we can respond well.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT:
How my dad approached cancer