Mike Staver's Blog

A Story from and about A Friend:

I usually don’t like cliches but this is a story that i think has a great lesson for us all!! ENJOY!!

This personal true story is too good not to pass along. It is a little long, but might be worth the read. On the morning of October 7th, 2007 after months of preparation and anticipation our wedding day arrived! The weather in Austin, TX, was beautiful that morning. The ceremony went according to plan. My Husband Tom and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire celebration of our marriage with our family and friends. All too soon it was time to head for the airport and take off for our honeymoon in Napa Valley. We flew from Austin to Dallas where we waited in the Admirals Club for our connecting flight to San Francisco. As we waited, we talked about how delighted we were with the way things had gone, what a perfect day it had been for both of us! We were having a blast! Happy, happy, happy!

We were very pleased that a few days before, our upgrades had gone through, so we were going from AUS-DFW-SFO First Class. We got to the gate just in time to board, and the gate agent instead of letting us board, said he had to talk to us at the desk. Uh oh, we thought, this can’t be good. His name was Brion. Brion could be the poster child for the absolute worst, most rude, hostile example of customer service either Tom or I have ever encountered in our lives. The problem was that there were 2 broken seats in first class and we had been bumped back to coach in a middle and window seat. No First Class means no food, and we had barely eaten all day, knowing we would get a meal on the plane. We were shocked, and disappointed, especially since Tom is Executive Platinum. Brion was totally hostile from the start, and well, it is hard to even describe how horrible he was other than to say Tom decided we’d better grab the tickets and board the plane, before he got even more mad and took them away from us altogether. ( gate agents can do this). So, we board the plane, both of us seething at the disrespect and hostility that had been delivered to us by Brion.

As we are taking off, my wonderful new husband Tom was struck by an idea. He decided that we had to do something to turn this negative situation and feelings around, and to put our happy day back on a happy track! We discussed his idea… and decided it was the thing to do. As soon as we were airborne, and the flight attendants were up, Tom rang the call button. When 2 flight attendants came over to talk to us, we explained what had happened to us, and Tom handed her his credit card saying that it would make us feel better if we could continue our celebration, by buying a drink for anyone in coach that wanted one. Their jaws dropped open, but they assured us that though they had never done it, they certainly could and would. The First Class attendant went to the front and made the announcement. She told the whole plane that Janet and Tom in 19 E and F had just gotten married that morning, been involuntarily bumped from first class, and wanted everyone in coach to join in our celebration, and “feel like” they were in first class by offering them each a drink. Everyone cheered! All of a sudden we were the celebrities on the plane, and many came by to congratulate us, thank us, and wish us well. Talk about turning negative energy into positive, there is nothing like offering a round of drinks to 150 people to turn things in a hurry!

The flight attendants immediately brought me a sandwich and some champagne, thank heavens, I was starving! Everyone was happy and having a good time.
A little while later, the flight attendant gets on the loudspeaker again. She said they had done a little research on us, and found out that Tom was Executive Platinum, I was Platinum, and that our money was no good with them on that day. The drinks in honor of our marriage would be paid for by American Airlines not us. Another big cheer throughout the plane! Everyone was happy, and AA got a great PR play out of it.

Isn’t this a great story? Well, it is not quite over yet. This last part may be more appreciated by the other frequent fliers among us. As we are taxiing to the gate, the flight attendant comes on one last time. She said that they all knew Tom and Janet by now, and congratulated us one more time on walking down the aisle that day, but she thought we deserved one more walk down the aisle before the day was over. She asked everyone on the plane to please, when we got to the gate, remain in their seats until we had a chance to take that final walk! Tom and I are looking at each other whispering, yeah right, this will NEVER happen. How many times have we been on late flights where they beg people to let those with tight connections off first, and no one ever lets them, it is always a mad scramble for the front door. So imagine our surprise, when we pull up to the gate, the bell rings. and there is TOTAL silence on the plane. No one is moving at all. The girl sitting by us on the aisle, gets up to let us by, and we proceed to the front of the plane with everyone cheering us and wishing us well, and everyone (even first class) remaining in their seats until we pass!

So that is the end of the story. My new husband took our lemons and turned them into lemonade, not just for us, but for a whole plane full of people!

Things are tough out there right now and I thought this might be useful to review.

In challenging times, your success has everything to do with where your focus is. The brain is designed for only one purpose…to keep you alive!

Any time the mind feels threatened, it wants to focus on that threat. This makes sense if the threat is a hungry saber tooth tiger lurking outside your cave, but not so much if it’s not a survival issue! Non-life-threatening challenges don’t warrant the energy we often give them.

I am not suggesting that you adopt a value of carelessness, but rather that you change where you spend your thought energy. Don’t minimize the reality of life’s difficulties. Do approach challenges with balanced thinking and appropriate focus.

I have found that people who do well in tough times are not necessarily the stronger ones or the smarter ones. Those who travel through the valleys successfully tend to have their minds set on certain things. Whether the challenge you’re facing is as simple as not getting a sale you really needed or as major as a death in your family, it doesn’t have to derail you.

Here are five things to think about when times are tough:

1. Family and friends are long-term; money is short-term.
2. One good opportunity will change the entire direction of your circumstances.
3. Spend 90 percent of your time focused on the opportunities and 10 percent of your time focused on solving the problem.
4. Focus on what you are becoming — not on what you are or on what you were.
5. Schedule a fixed amount of time each day to deal with challenges. Once that time is over, MOVE ON to the things that will move you past the challenging time.