Relax. You are going to Hawaii

I'm at the airport and it reminded me a story.

A few years ago my partner and I were standing in line at SeaTac, about to board a flight to Hawaii. I must have looked tense, lost in my head, worrying about something I can't even remember now.

Out of nowhere, an old man in the queue turned to me and said:

"Relax. You're going to Hawaii."

My first thought? You relax. Mind your own business.

But I just smiled and said nothing. Later on the flight, I thought - He was right. I was about to board a flight to one of the most beautiful places on earth with the love of my life — and my mind had taken me somewhere else entirely. The joy was already there, but I wasn't in it.

Two things stayed with me from that moment.

The first is that we are often the last to see ourselves clearly. I didn't know I was stressed. It took a stranger — someone with zero agenda, just pure lightness — to hold up the mirror.

The second is that resistance is often the first response to truth. My instinct was to push back. But I let it in only a little bit. And the lightness he carried became available to me too.

In coaching I see this all the time. The insight that triggers the most resistance is often the one that matters most. And lightness — joy, ease, presence — is not something you earn when everything is perfect. It's a choice available to you right now. Even in a crowded airport queue.

That old man didn't fix me. He just reminded me of what was already there. That's the power of a mirror. That's the power of coaching.

Maybe you're standing in your own airport queue right now — tense, stressed, or resisting what you truly want. If you're ready to change that — I'd love to be your mirror.