“I am on time, it's only 11:23 ma’am!” I said to the check-in lady at the airport. “You are late. she said, closing her office and walking past me quickly, not turning to listen to any request I had.

In her hand, the final list(i think) of all the people who had checked in.

The gates were still open. “I have already checked in, I just need a boarding pass,” I said now even more desperate.

She moved faster and reached the immigration counter line. “This is immigration you can’t pass here!” She said, drawing a line in the air with her hands. I looked at her and created a puppy face.

“You won't board” You are late!”

“But I am here and I have already checked in, just need a boarding pass!” I said, my voice sounding really desperate now. I could not afford to miss this flight.

“No! I can’t help you, I am done. I am going. You have missed your flight”

And just like that, I missed my first flight…ever since I started flying.

Credits to Viktor Hanacek founder of picjumbo - A good place to get premium and free pictures

It was a bad feeling especially coming from a background where waste was something that was never entertained, it was as if someone had punched me in my stomach, only that, that person was me. However, being a thinker, I quickly stopped feeling bad and sorry and asked myself: What life lessons can I learn from this? KEPT

1. Keep sight of the Goal

You can’t get away with a second of distraction. It's just not possible. If you have decided and set a goal to do something, you have to give absolute and total effort to it without a second of distraction. I decided to get distracted early in the morning and I had to pay triple the amount I had initially paid on my air ticket.

2. Everything has an expiry date.

Someone once advised me, “Do you know the beauty of life? Its the fact that there is death at the end of it.” There is nothing that lasts forever. Everything has an expiry date. Sleep on the opportunity and its gone. Someone else will step into that door.

3. Plan.

#ClicheThatStillHoldsTrue: Failing to plan is planning to fail. :) There is having fun with randomness but there is also a place for planning. Sitting and planning your time and aligning them with activities is a must do thing. One of mentors says, "success is never by accident."

4. The Important Urgent matrix (Eisenhower Matrix)

image credit: developGoodHabits

Aligning and listing activities using this always helps. There are many times I have wasted time on a not urgent not important task. Having a written weekly reminder of these tasks is always a good thing. Take time out, Scribble something that you want to achieve in the next week/month. Prioritize what you want to achieve.

And just like that, I slumped there at the airport, looking at the passengers that entered lost in my thoughts. Lost in the fact that I had missed an opportunity to fly with that airline for the first time.