Making the Hard More Bearable

If we have to go to the dentist, we can focus on gratitude that we have a dentist and the means to see one so our teeth can be taken care of because oral pain is the worst. If our coworkers are unkind, we can make it a quest to show greater love and respect to counteract that unkindness. And if I have to go through an airport security line, I should do all I can to minimize the uncomfortable parts and focus on the fact that my flight is being made safer because we’re made to go through it. Doing this kind of a perspective shift doesn’t always change our circumstances, but it sure can give us new tools to get through hard times with grace and the opportunity for growth.

I’m sure we all have our horror stories of going through the uncomfortable process of flying in our modern airports. You know the drill: being a good citizen, we show up two hours prior to our flight, we ensure any checked bags don’t weigh anymore than the allotted weigh, we stand in a line to drop off our bags, then another line to get through security, and yet another line to board our flight. But for me, at least, the most awkward part of the whole unpleasant experience is the security check.

I’m grateful for the TSA. Truly I am. I’m certain they have bolstered our security at our airports, and imagine they have stopped a number of serious incidents from happening. And by and large, I have been impressed by how pleasant and friendly most TSA security check folks are despite their very demoralizing job. I mean, can we think of a job where people are any less happy to interact with you as an employee? Maybe dentists specializing in root canals, but I’d say determining which stirs up more stress would be tough.

My biggest issues with the security checks at airports really have nothing to do with the TSA workers and more to do with the infuriating process itself. I’ve studied organizational behavior and change management, so every time I go through security at airports I think of dozens of ways of making the process more efficient, less taxing on passengers, and easier for TSA employees.

Earlier this week I flew home from visiting family, and, like usual, I saw several things I’d love to change. First off, am I the only one who thinks those belt barrier lines could use some rethinking? More often than not, a poor TSA person actually spends their day pointing for people to join certain lines when if they just separated the lines earlier on, there would be no need for that particular, I’m certain tiresome job.

And then it seems like every time I fly, even if I’m flying out of the same airport, I get different instructions on whether or not I’m supposed to take off my shoes and anything metal and take out my portal electronic devices and place them in separate tubs or if I’m supposed to just keep things in my bag and have it scanned separately. This time around I was told I could keep my shoes on and devices in their bags after I had already taken them out, but before I took my shoes off. But I went through a metal detector rather than the kind of spooky spin scanner, and of course, my shoes set off the metal detector so I had to take those off anyway.

I left suggestions at the customer service line for the TSA in as kind of a way as I could, because, as they so appropriately remind us dozens of times while we’re in line, “If we see something, say something.” I guess it’s more likely that something might be done if the suggestion is made than if not made. But I’m not getting my hopes up too high.

All of this has made me realize something though: there are lots of uncomfortable, unpleasant things we have to deal with in life. We have to sit in freeway traffic sometimes. We get sick. Children get sick. Coworkers sometimes don’t treat us the way we wish they did. Grocery stores run out of products we are hoping to buy and sometimes we don’t have money to buy the things we need. But in most cases, there are ways of making these hard things in life a bit easier. I can wear slip on shoes when I know I’ll have to go through airport security and I can put everything I possibly can into my checked bag so I don’t have to deal with as much if I’m asked to pull some things out of my carry-on bag. There are much more stressful things in life than going through airport security, I am certainly aware of that fact. But it seems like there might be ways of making even those things a bit better too. Even if the physical circumstances don’t change, we can still focus on the benefits rather than the losses.

If we have to go to the dentist, we can focus on gratitude that we have a dentist and the means to see one so our teeth can be taken care of because oral pain is one of the worst kinds. If our coworkers are unkind, we can make it a quest to show greater love and respect to counteract that unkindness. And if I have to go through a airport security line, I should do all I can to minimize the uncomfortable parts and focus on the fact that my flight is being made safer because we’re made to go through it. And all of those things are awfully good things to celebrate.