Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.— Eliza Tabor

This past weekend, I went to Banff National Park to snowboard at the SkiBig3 resorts (Lake Louise and Sunshine, specifically). I was meeting up with a crew who goes to Whistler every year but decided to switch things up, and I was stoked to visit a new ski destination.

The only problem – I had one of the worst travel experiences of my life getting from San Diego to Banff.

My travel day from hell included not being able to check my snowboard bag in time resulting in a re-routed flight, a delayed flight resulting in a 4 hour layover in the Las Vegas airport, and then my bag never showing up to Calgary. The aforementioned bag had every piece of equipment/gear needed to snowboard, from my actual board to hand warmers. Every. Single. Thing. Did I mention the entire point of the trip was to ride? Oh and then there was the rental car agent who initially told me the road to Banff was closed and that I should make alternate arrangements. This was at 10 pm after 17 hours of travel. I almost burst into tears.

Throughout the (long) day, I kept asking myself, “What am I supposed to learn from this?” but came up blank. I was (mostly) nice and patient with every person I encountered, from the first Delta agent to the WestJet baggage claim specialist. I recognized that it was a privilege to travel to snowboard in the first place and kept telling myself it would be fine once I got there. I was going on vacation – how much did I really have to complain about?

After getting home and sharing the experience with some friends, one of them commented that it might have been a way of learning to deal with disappointment.  She nailed it because that was exactly how I felt: disappointed.

I was disappointed that I didn’t get there earlier to carpool with friends to Banff. Disappointed that I wouldn’t get to ride on my new snowboard with the boots that feel like pillows and soft gear that fits me perfectly. Disappointed that I had to spend a morning renting gear instead of going to the mountains with the crew. Disappointed that everything didn’t happen exactly the way I wanted it to.

That same friend knows that a lot of things in my life tend to go smoothly, and I have to agree. Some people have random things happen to them all the time. Coffee spills. Minor car accidents. Lost wallets or worse. In contrast, I live a fairly charmed life when considering my day to day.

Of course, there are big things – a failed marriage, a bipolar father with Parkinson’s and in remission for cancer, and the occasional slump in work. But for the most part, this present season of life is easy. It’s abundant even. And I never want to take that for granted.

Learning to roll with the small let downs in the day to day is training ground for when the really devastating things hit.

I know I have a lot to learn. I can be more patient. I can laugh sooner at my circumstances. I can be quicker to wave the gratitude flag. I can practice waiting because there are usually good things on the other side. This trip was no exception.

I drove safely to Banff late that night despite some snow flurries and sketchy road conditions. I was able to rent and/or buy all the gear I needed, assured by WestJet that I would be reimbursed. And I spent 3 days in the stunning Canadian Rockies doing something I love with people I have a blast with. So though I never would have chosen it for myself, the training ground ended up being more than worth it.

[Photo: Part of the crew and I at Lake Louise after our last day of riding. Note: my snowboard bag showed up on the last afternoon of my trip, just in time for me to take it home.]