So, flying home from Bremen on Wednesday evening, I single-handedly managed to prevent Ryanair from playing their 'we've arrived on time' fanfare.  All I did was not point out someone's mistake as I walked through the gate to board the plane - they didn't remove the slip at the bottom of my boarding card so when we sat on the plane there was one more passenger than they could account for.
Give them their due, they put out a tannoy announcement for 'Mrshsshsmmischthh to press the call bell' - listened more carefully and they asked for Mrs Smith so I ignored it (no its not just my hearing, the guy next to me also thought it was a female they were looking for).
Eventually, everyone had to rummage in their bags and produce their boarding cards so that they could weed me out, give me a telling off and then we were on our way, 15 minutes late.
Should I have corrected the man at the gate? Maybe but different airlines at different airports have different ways of dealing with similar situations. Should I have spoken up earlier on the plane? Maybe, but I didn't.
It did make me wonder though, how often do we go out of our way to help other people do their jobs even better? Sometimes we are keen to correct our colleagues when they get it wrong but its not just about that. How can we help our colleagues work more effectively, more easily, enjoy themselves more or whatever.? But maybe more tellingly, how much are we willing to put in the extra effort on their behalf?
Yesterday, I was running a children's abseiling session with a colleague at an outdoor centre. When she started to vomit off the crag, I realised I needed to try to do everything possible to make her job easier - would I have been so supportive and helpful if the particular scenario had not arisen?
What inspires us to work more closely with our colleagues? Is it because we want to help them to enjoy life, to help the company be more successful or to help ourselves inhabit a more harmonious workplace? What are your thoughts?

I'm sat in the departure lounge at Glasgow Airport - not somewhere I have been  often so far this year. Its quite quiet but everyone here seems to be in the same state of bored anticipation that I am. We're not going anywhere exciting - its a flight to London Luton - and certainly for me the reason for flying is interesting but not thrilling (sorry Bitternes)!

It has made me think back to starting my first proper job for British Rail, as it was called in those days. I entered an office full of people who seemed to be a little bored, resigned to being there and certainly not excited by the prospect, looking forward with mild interest to the point when they would retire and life would become more fun.

Ever since coming into contact with xpand's Creative Life Planning concept, I have realised how unwise it is to neglect playing and enjoying life until I am old(er) and grey(er). Lets spend time NOW doing things we enjoy.

Every time I think back to that first job, I wonder why people would endure a job that they tolerate at best and continually moan about. Some folks I knew had commitments to family support that scared them into not moving but for the majority, they seemed to be under the impression that life had dealt them this hand and they just had to put up with it.

Yes, there are obstacles but mostly they can be overcome - lets do it.