Those of you who know me (or who have seen me in the summer) know that my hair is naturally very curly. God gave me curls and I spend most of my time trying to lose them. So as I was packing for my recent trip to Thailand, I made sure I had a power converter so my hair straightener (called a flat iron) would work. I learned the hard way that I needed one when we were in Italy last year. I guess those 220 volts shooting into my 110 volt appliance wasn’t good - I fried my Chi just by plugging it into the wall. So this time, I was prepared…or so I thought.

The first night I was there I had been out at the pool and walking around town and was badly in need of a shower. I was supposed to meet some folks for dinner so I had to make it quick. Yea, right. When I plugged in the flat iron I didn’t smell that awful odor of electronics burning so I thought I was safe. I wasn’t going to toast two of them, but this one wasn’t even getting hot. Nothing. I tried it in the little shaver outlet in the bathroom too, but didn’t get anything other than a strange hum that couldn’t have been good. Hungry, I decided to go au-natural and left with a wet head to go eat dinner. My hair looked fine at first but by the time I got back to my room after supper the frizz had settled in. I had to make a presentation the next morning to 150 people and this was just not how I had envisioned doing it. I had to make a plan.

One thing that I have always found helpful in difficult situations is to accept the worst and then work to improve it. Worst case: I have frizzy hair. Most of the people who were going to be in the audience didn’t know me, though they’ll think I did a bait-and-switch on the head shots in the conference program. They would think I meant to wear my hair in a frizz ball. Once I had accepted that, I then worked to improve upon it. I wanted to make sure that wasn’t what happened.

As it turned out, the hotel had a converter that I could use, which is the one in the picture. Yes, it looks a little scary and the hum made me a little nervous, but it worked. I may need to get myself checked out for radiation poisoning at some point, but thankfully I made my presentation with perfectly strait locks. Even if I hadn’t I was ready.

How often in our lives and our businesses do we get to the first part – imagining the worst – and then stop there? Dwelling on the negative does not help. Accept the worst case scenario and then move on, working like heck to make sure it doesn’t come to pass. Although this particular incident may be trivial, I’ve had plenty other opportunities to practice this philosophy when the stakes were higher – a lost customer, an illness, or bad economic forecast – and I know it works. Have you tried it? How do you deal with unexpected events that may not be so good?

I admit it – I was nervous about venturing out into Bangkok on my own. It was surprising to me, really, because I love to travel and have travelled internationally many times. I was really looking forward to my trip, too, but had begun to get anxious about a week before my trip. I think it all started when I talked to others who had been there. They warned me about the crowds, the pollution, and the strict dress rules for getting into temples. I suppose my expectations were set fairly low and I had resolved myself to treat the trip as just business.

When I arrived in Thailand, it was midnight (a day and half after I left my home!) so I didn’t get to see much but interesting people in the streets and colorful taxi cabs. When I woke up the next morning and looked out my hotel room window, I started to feel foolish for being nervous. After all, I had wandered through many a foreign town before, except that had been almost all in Europe. This was my first trip to Asia. Why would I want to stay in my hotel room? Sure, there was work to do, but when would I be in this city again? I decided it was time to face my fear and venture out on my own. It wasn’t that the fear went away; I just pretended that I wasn’t fearful. I was practicing my own “fake it ‘til you make it” advice. And I am so glad I did!

The first people I met were from Manchester, England. They had come to Thailand because on of their daughters was getting married in Chang Mai. Then I met a group of four women who had come to Bangkok on a girls’ weekend (how come I can’t get my girl friends to do something like that!?) to shop. A couple of them just happened to be Texas A&M graduates like me or had children who graduated from A&M. They were instrumental in helping me part with my money in the silk shop. Finally, I met two women, Debbie and Jane, who were from Texas (like me!) but their husbands’ jobs had brought them to Bangkok to live for a few years. They were so nice and helpful that Debbie even offered her assistance if (and when!) I brought my family back to Thailand. To top it off, they were working on starting up a new business! Amazing. No such thing as coincidence.

The trip that started out as just business turned into an incredible experience that left me wanting more. By facing my fear and taking the tiger by the tail (yes, the tigers in the picture were real and they were spectacular!), I found a new place to travel with my family and acquired some custom-made silk clothes to boot!