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Are Our Actions Creating a Stink?

By Joey Havens

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A few weeks ago on a full flight from Dallas, TX, to Jackson, MS, it was so hot, I began to sweat. You’ve probably felt that stuffy, hot and uncomfortable feeling where you realize you are not going to be cool anytime soon. Yet it turned out this uncomfortable feeling was the least of my problems.

Someone is passing gas and it’s so rough I have forgotten about my sweating as I am getting a dose every 10 minutes or so. I’m not joking as this is seriously bad.

I’ve never loved my hand sanitizer so much! Thank goodness, CeCe made me put a bottle in my backpack. (I’m especially appreciative of her penchant for hand sanitizer today!) Applying my second generous helping, I put my hands over my face and simply inhale as much as I can.

It’s at the point now, I am actually just giggling. There must be a life lesson here somewhere.

How often do we generate a bad aroma? That’s not a personal question, ha!  What about times where we show up as the victim?  We bring our best excuses to bear with how it was out of our control?  What about the times when it was certainly someone else’s fault as we did our part. I’ll bet we are creating more of a stink than we realize. And hand sanitizer simply doesn’t help this smell. The only thing that helps us clean up this stink is fierce ownership. 

It’s easy to fall into the victim mentality, for us to cede control outside of ourselves. It always smells bad to those around us. I’m hoping that my unfortunate situation on this flight will remind us that it does stink when we don’t own it. Whatever it is, just #OwnIt. And seriously, don’t forget the hand sanitizer. We need it now more than ever. Thanks again, CeCe! 

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