Meet Jen and Dave. Jen and Dave had booked a short holiday, just a few days off.  But then, they decided to cancel the trip.  They had paid upfront, the cancellation policy did not allow for a refund.  Jen and Dave could not get their money back.

They felt miserable.  “This is such an awful lot of money.  All lost.  All wasted.  This is horrible.”

They worried.  They complained.  They whined and moaned the next five days.

They didn’t get their money back.  On top, they wasted five days, indulging in their misery.

Meet Jen and Dave. Jen and Dave had booked a short holiday, just a few days off.  But then, they decided to cancel the trip.  They had paid upfront, the cancellation policy did not allow for a refund.  Jen and Dave could not get their money back.

They felt miserable.  “This is such an awful lot of money.  All lost.  All wasted.  This is horrible.”

They worried.  They complained.  They whined and moaned.

“But you know,” Dave said, “whining is not going to get us our money back.  We decided to cancel.  And that implied having paid and not being able to get our money back.  We knew that.  The next few days will be bright and sunny, let’s enjoy them instead of whining.”

“Well,” Jen replied, “we might be able to catch up on a lot of work we didn’t get around doing yet.  And we might take some time off here as well, and go for a hike or bike ride in the sun.”

Dave nodded in agreement.  “Sounds like a great plan, sweetheart.  Let’s use these next days to get some work out of the way and enjoy the fine weather at the same time.”

“You know,” Dave added, “it’s just money.  We’ll deal with it. If that’s all there is we have to worry about, we’re lucky folks.”

They didn’t get their money back.  But they spent a great five days, catching up on work and enjoying their time off.

“You know,” Dave said later that evening, while sipping from a glass of wine and looking out over the garden, “you know, we made the right decision.”  Jen looked up from her book, a contented expression on her face.  “We really did.  We are having a great time here.  So glad we stayed home.”

Same circumstance.  2 stories.  2 sets of thoughts.  2 different results.

Inspired by a true story, names and some details have been changed; post title inspired by “What a difference a day makes” by Dinah Washington.

Photo from here.