This originally appeared on Conde Nast Traveler’s website: New Year’s Resolutions from Travel Bloggers, Chefs, and Other VIPsTHE FLIGHT ATTENDANTHeather Poole
Be more fully present: “As a flight attendant I spend a lot of time looking ahead—to the next flight, the next crew, the next group of passengers, the next layover, the next couple of days off, the next month’s schedule. Before I know it another month goes by and the next thing I know we’re ringing in a new year and I can barely remember what happened leading up to it. It’s all one big, hazy blue blur. So this year I’m going to work harder at focusing on the moment. By living in the now, stress and anxiety over what I can’t control gets left behind and simple things become beautiful moments that last a lifetime. Like sitting in a jump seat on a very early flight and watching the rays of sunlight peak through the clouds and make its way into the quiet cabin across the faces of passengers lost in thought on takeoff. Such a quiet beauty that goes unnoticed on most flights.”
Heather Poole 
The best way to capture the moment is to record it in some (unique) way. Like taking pictures, even black-and-white 35mm pics. or by making video blogs. That’s cool. Or even by making an audio diary via any recording device. You might also collect items you come across on your travels. They are nice reminders or places gone by.
Beautiful, Heather! Happy almost-New Year!
Thanks for writing this up, Heather … this is good advice for us all. Best of luck with it!
Very good advice. We all need to slow down, no matter what we do for a living, whether it be a doctor, teacher, flight attendent, nurse etc. Be mindful. Be in the moment. You cannot change the past or predict the future. Accept things the way they are in a nonjudgmental way.(very difficult in this world lately). I’ve been that passenger on the early flight. The one with the sun on their face. Totally in the moment, at peace, not thinking about work or bills or anything. Thank you for that, Heather. Great advice.
I heard a monologue on NPR this year by another flight attendant. What stuck the most with me is that each and every pax has a story. They may be on the way to a funeral, wedding or whatever. But we are a part of that experience for some of them.
A good resolution, and one I rely on yoga to keep me focused on. Cheers to 2013!
Reblogged this on AirportsMadeSimple.