the extra mile

Southwest airlines has become a big part of my life. I've flown with them many more times than I can count, and I'm as loyal a customer as they come. It's not just the fact that Southwest is cheaper or that I can fly two bags for free (which is a huge help to someone who flies with 3-4 months worth of belongings each time). It's the fact that the people who work there are just plain nice and genuinely care about their customers - or at least do a really good job of "fakin' it till they make it." Not once in all my flights with them have I had anything remotely close to a bad experience, and on the contrary I've had many pleasantly memorable encounters. For starters, the smiles. If it's possible to have a more or less genuine smile as a flight attendant, then these folks have the former down pat. I always get a smile that's not the I'm-so-relieved-these-people-are-getting-off-this-plane-soon kind of smile but the I'm-happy-to-be-here-and-want-to-share-that-joy kind of smile. And as every good psych student knows, smiling has tremendous effects toward increasing happiness, for the giver and the receiver.While showing off those pearly whites, they sure seem to enjoy the work that they do. That attitude rubs off on the passengers, too. The entire mood of the plane changes when you hear a flight attendant making jokes over the intercom or you see another attendant walking down the aisle in a brightly colored apron. And, though I personally have never been in a major pinch while flying with Southwest, I've heard many stories of the helpfulness of their employees in fixing the situation. So, thank you, Southwest for not just sharing the LUV but happiness, fun, and helpfulness, too. (Oh and if you're wondering what the LUV is all about then you haven't flown Southwest enough.)

But, contrary to what you might be thinking, this wasn't meant to be a free advertisement for Southwest... even though that's what it turned in to. 

As I'm sitting here in the airport of the Mile High City waiting for the shuttle bus to take me up to the ranch, I'm thinking about how much of a difference even the little things can make. Like sharing smiles. Or enjoying work and making it fun. It may not seem like much but added together all these little things can really change the atmosphere you're in and the direction of someone else's day. We always hear the phrase "go the extra mile" (and it has nothing to do with the elevation difference in traveling from Florida to Denver) and probably think of that extra mile as something arduous and burdensome. Sometimes it is. But other times going the extra mile can literally be as simple as exercising the upward movement of your facial muscles on a day when frowning feels much more at home with your mood.

So, folks, wherever you're at and whatever it is you find yourself doing, I encourage you to try and go the extra mile - even and especially when that mile is small. I'll be doing the same.