The Orion capsule burned through the blackness and I held my breath.
The sky went from black to blue as they entered earth’s atmosphere. “Come on parachutes….come on parachutes…”
Out popped three beautiful white and red parachutes and the Artemis II Mission finished with a lilting descent and splashdown in the Pacific at 7:07 CST.
Naval boats and divers circled the Orion for what seemed like forever without approaching, touching or even opening the doors. FINALLY they approached, but the crew didn’t come out into fresh air for over an hour.
I was exasperated! They’ve been cooped up in a tiny ship with nothing but canned air and their (unwashed) crewmates for over 9 days and 1 hour…GET THEM OUT OF THERE ALREADY! They must be going mad!
Then I remembered…astronauts are the consummate intelligent professional scientists. They know the mission isn’t actually over and their time isn’t their own until they dot the last T and cross the last I. They know there’s still work to do. They knew that from the beginning, so while I was impatient, and had the expectation that they’d pop out as soon as they splashed down and leap joyously into the ocean with flamingo pool floaties and fruity boat drinks, they fully expected to be in the capsule for up to 2 hours after they were actually ON the earth.
They set their expectations, and I don’t know this for sure, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t yelling “ARE WE THERE YET? ARE WE THERE YET? HURRY UP!” as they banged on the hatch after splashdown.
Then I realized, this isn’t just an astronaut thing. I messed this up back in 2023 while I was descending Kilimanjaro. I never planned for anything but the top.
Get to the top. Get to the top.
What I didn’t do was set my expectations for the descent…and we had another 10 miles to walk to where we would sleep that night! I didn’t plan for that (even though I knew it in my brain.) I had the expectation that it would be “all downhill from there” which it literally was, but figuratively that 10 miles was exponentially harder than the 3 miles to the top…because I expected it to be easy.
The astronauts probably weren’t miserable because they planned for the whole journey. I only planned for the highlight.
Impatience can make a tough situation waaaaay worse, and when we have an expectation that something will be quick or easy, and it’s not, it can be an interminable experience.
“The key to happiness is lowered expectations!”
I’ve said that a lot, and people gawk because I’m an eternal optimist. They don’t expect that from me. But this mindset isn’t about being pessimistic. It’s about being prepared.
When we expect something to be tough…
- when it is, we’re not surprised and we work through it.
- when it’s not tough, it’s an amazing surprise that feels like we won $49 in a corn shucking contest!! Best. Day. Ever!
So be realistic with your expectations. It’ll lighten the experience, even if it’s not a breeze.
Go get ‘em Tiger…and don’t forget to plan for the long walk back.
