I spent the last 3+ days in Sarasota, Florida. It’s a beautiful city with amazing people and glorious sunshine. The locals will tell you it was cold this week but when you come down from near freezing temperatures at home, “cold” seems to be a very relative term. Their “arctic blast” was my “tropical oasis.”
My flight home wasn’t scheduled to leave Sarasota Bradenton International Airport around noon so I was able to sleep in after a busy few days of speaking at several local Coldwell Banker events. As I sat on the balcony this morning overlooking Sarasota Bay, I was trying to store the sunshine in my body the way a squirrel stores acorns for winter.
It was a few hours before I had to head to the airport but I checked the Uber app to get an idea of how many cars were in the area, trying to gauge how long before my flight I should page a driver. As the map opened on my iPhone, I saw the airport was just a few miles North of where I was staying.
I opened the map application and plugged in “SRQ” (the airport code for Sarasota) and the image zoomed in on the small 14-gate airport. I then clicked the “Route” button and found it was just 2.8 miles away – simple 6 minute trip by car. Just out of curiosity, I clicked on the “walk” option, and my phone told me it was a 58 minute walk.
You walked to the airport?
Why not? I had the time, I had the energy and I have wheels on my suitcase. Oh yeah, I also had blue skies, gentle gulf breezes and sunshine warming the air to a very comfortable 50 degrees. I could have called Uber or a Yellow Cab but I decided to walk instead.
My journey took me just under an hour and I made it in plenty of time to catch my flight. (I’m actually writing this post from seat 16A of my US Airways flight to Charlotte). I popped in my earbuds and enjoyed my Amos Lee channel on Pandora. I stopped and snapped a few photos along the way. I said hello to some joggers and other residents out for a morning walk. I really just enjoyed my leisurely stroll in the morning sunshine knowing in a few hours I’ll be getting off a plane in Columbus where the temperatures will be in the single digits and I might not see the sun again until April.
The trip to the airport was a great reminder that we don’t have to be in such a hurry all the time. We can stop and smell the roses every now and then if we want to. We don’t have to react to every text, tweet or telephone call as if it’s life or death. There really isn’t much in life that is both urgent AND important.
Get up from your desk this week and walk around.
Step away from your computer screen and look around.
Come home early one day, help your kids with their homework and play around.
Give yourself permission to take the leisurely way at least once this week. Look towards the skies and enjoy the sunshine. Trust me, It’ll give you more energy so you can keep building relationships, solving problems and having fun.