"During the COVID-19 pandemic, my family and I stumbled on a deal too good to ignore-cruise ship prices had plunged, so we happily booked our berths. Well, it turned out to be quite an adventure. During the cruise, one of the ship's propeller motors died. Luckily, the ship could still move, but at a slower pace. Several port destinations were canceled. Some of the passengers were livid, and the air buzzed with complaints about ruined vacations."
"My family and I were disappointed but not angry. Not because we were saints-far from it. A little backstory explains our relatively mild reaction. The thing is, we almost didn't make it onto the ship. On our three-hour drive to the port, we got a flat tire on our rental car and discovered, to our horror, that there wasn't a spare tire in the car."
A family booked a deeply discounted cruise during the COVID-19 pandemic and faced disruptions when a propeller motor failed, slowing the ship and canceling several ports. Many passengers reacted with anger about ruined vacations, but the family felt grateful rather than outraged because they had nearly missed the voyage after a flat tire and no spare on their rental car. That near-miss reframed priorities, making missed ports seem minor compared with simply being aboard. Counterfactual thinking about what might have occurred highlights beneficial absences. Imagined alternatives to events can reveal reasons for gratitude rooted in avoided harms as well as attained goods.
Read at Psychology Today
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