It is a cold, rainy mess in New York City today. This is the first day of this kind we’ve had in quite a while and I think it’s safe to say that nobody was ready for it. Everyone I’ve spoken to today has had a complaint about how damp and chilly they’re feeling. I’m wearing two sweaters right now. And I’m still not warm enough.

The only solution was some comfort-time during my lunch break – a steaming cup of decaf coffee, a warm chocolate chip cookie, and a newspaper.

This was the same divine chocolate chip cookie from Pret A Manger that I enjoyed almost exactly a month ago today.

While I sipped and nibbled (I only finished half of the delicious cookie, I’ll eat the rest of it another time.), I read a Wall Street Journal article about Charles “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who successfully landed a plane in the Hudson River last January and, in doing so, saved the lives of almost 180 people.

Sully is a really insightful guy. He was quoted a few times in the article and two of his comments really stood out to me.

“In so many areas of life, you need to be a long-term optimist but a short-term realist.”

I really like that and I agree with it.

He also said:

“When it’s no longer possible to complete all your goals, you sacrifice lower priority goals.”

I like that too. Of course, he’s refering more directly to being a pilot and making choices in critical moments when flying, but I think a lot of what he talked about in this article can be applied to other things besides airplanes.

…In other less inspiring news, someone just sprinted down the hall of our office. Sprinted. A full-out run. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing whatever it was didn’t necessarily warrant a run. This isn’t a hospital, guys.

Ah well. I guess I’ll add “Avoiding sprinting coworkers” to my quitting my job “pros” list.