An engineering professor once told us how he was going to try and push us and raise our stress level. “A certain level of stress is helpful and will lead to your success,” he explained, “as long as you don’t pass that point and get so stressed that you break down.”
As Mandi and I are sitting on board our flight to Barcelona, I’m thinking about the benefits a few minutes in the train station or airport can bring.
Crowds in airports come in waves as people climb out of trains and buses and arrive at predefined times to make their flight. Once we (and one or two hundred others) exited our train, we made our way to the security checkpoint. We didn’t run, but we walked with purpose and passed lots of people along the way. By the time we got to security there were few in front of us, but a huge line formed behind us.
Those five minutes of stress and haste probably saved us close to an hour waiting in a small, crowded, and stuffy line.
Have you taken a moment to rush through the muck so you can enjoy the rest of the day? It’s often worth it, as long as you don’t go too far, never relax, and break down.
the afterburner 