General News
25 January, 2026
Smiles with Sally: Inconveniences are OK
Empowerment Coach Sally Pymer takes a look at finding the good in what can be inconveniences in our lives. She offers a challenge to us all at the end of her column this week.
"Well, we can’t seem to get a trick today!" said the pilot.
That's what we heard just as my husband and I were sitting on the tarmac, ready to fly home from Brisbane.
We already had a one-hour flight delay before boarding the plane.
The delay left us caught in the middle of a thunderstorm, with the ground crew unable to help us depart, and another one-hour delay.
Just as we got to the runway to take off, there was an announcement.
Due to the storms going south, there were too many planes stuck in the air, the flight path was overloaded, and another one-hour delay.
Now it would be easy to get irritated and grumpy with the three-hour delay, but as a result, some pure magical moments happened that wouldn’t have otherwise.
We experienced a thunderstorm surrounding us while on a plane, and we got to see right up close other planes taking off as we waited only metres away on the runway.
In the seat directly in front of my husband and me was a young child, around three to four years old.
As she cautiously turned her head around, we poked our tongues out.
Over the course of the next four hours, this progressed to soft toys being hidden, hands being grabbed, cheeky laughs, and gorgeous smiles between the three of us.
What would have appeared as us entertaining her was actually her entertaining us.
The cheekiness even extended to after we disembarked, with her racing after us, looking back and smiling.
The interesting thing is, we did not say a word to each other. It was just gestures and smiles.
My husband and I continued to talk about this experience for many hours on our drive home.
The delay also resulted in us landing just at sunset, which was absolutely beautiful, and we would have missed it if we arrived on time.
How often do we get upset by delays we have and worry about the things we miss, when there are so many beautiful things we can see and gain?
How often are we in such a rush that we miss the beautiful things right in front of our eyes?
As I dragged myself into bed after midnight, I was thankful for the delay and the extra experiences we were able to enjoy.
There were so many beautiful experiences to smile about.
This week, if delayed in traffic or somewhere else, why not find the positives in the delay?
Are you able to see the child exploring on their way to school? Are you able to wave or smile at the person in the car next to you and brighten their day?
Maybe you could even give a bit of cheek and make them laugh.