Blog #596: When One Tips Sixteen Topple

A few days ago…
The FIRST domino tipped over.

In this case…

Domino #1 carries the tipping power
to topple sixteen other dominoes, too.

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If you’ve missed a blog or two…

On August 4th, I start walking across Scotland. The first planning step to make this adventure happen is booking an international flight.

In early May, I did.

BUT after booking the flight…

The planning gets tricky.

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In Scotland…

I’m walking a route called The John Muir Way.

It’s a 134-mile trail that doesn’t have an abundance of places to stay in key spots. Pre-booking beds for every night of my walk…even three months out…was barely sufficient.

Four or five of the bed nights were extra hard to find…and at least one significant route detour needed to be created. Each bed acts like a domino leading to the next domino. The key is not to let any of the dominoes tip.

But THE first domino that puts all the dates (and other dominoes) into play is the date I ARRIVE in Scotland.

From that moment…it all begins.

Guess what?

Domino #1 fell.

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I received an email from the airline.

“Your flight has been cancelled.”

“YIKES!” I muttered.

(Translate that as you’d like.)

Before figuring out my potential domino disaster…

I needed to “Find FIVE.”

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“Find Five.”

What’s that?

It’s five minutes…

To do something we need, should or want to be doing.

In my case…

At THAT moment, I needed to Find FIVE minutes to…

Breathe.

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Finding Five makes a difference.

It helps me find my calm.

It helps me move forward.

It helps me feel successful.

It helps me think I’m on the right track.

What adds positive to my day when I give it FIVE minutes?

1. Writing.

2. Reading.

3. Stretching.

4. Breathing.

5. Adding value to others.

6. Doing something kind for myself.

7. Planning for tomorrow.

8. Being grateful for today.

See one YOU like?

How about making sure you give it FIVE.

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Just FIVE.

I’m not asking us to find five things, five hours or five people.

Just FIVE minutes.

Find FIVE today.

It changes the day’s momentum.

Find FIVE regularly.

It changes life’s direction.

Pretty much worth it.

Don’t you think?

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Sooo…

How does the story above play out?

After taking FIVE minutes to breathe in order to turn down the scare in my head…I got on the phone with the airline.

Waiting a nervous hour on the phone before talking to a LIVE person, I got lucky. I found the coolest customer service person in the world to help me.

I shared my story.

“I’m walking across Scotland. I NEED to be in Glasgow on August 2nd because every room booking for two weeks depends on THAT date.”

The “A+” rep took 45+ minutes to find all possible alternatives flying out of California…connecting in the U.S….flying to Europe…and then getting my feet to Glasgow.”

ON TIME.

And he did it.

The flight schedule isn’t perfect…but I’m all in. NOW I have a 3+ hour wait in one airport and a seven-hour layover in another.

BUT…

I’m getting there when I need to get there.

Domino #1 is no longer tipping.

S.