As if on cue, the plane hit some turbulence and the pilot turned the seatbelt sign on. Cecelia, who seemed to be hiding in the galley, made the announcement. Collin and Sofia ushered folks back to their seats.

From Sofia's perspective, not much had changed with Cecelia's aggressiveness, which could be heard in her tone and volume on the PA.

That wasn't true for the souls around row 16.

Though most were now sitting in silence, they were all thinking.

Thinking about their backpacks. And what they were going to do with them.

The conversation between Buddy and Jon now turned to what Buddy referred to as “earning your spurs.”

If you're going to live with a loving backpack, there were some hard decisions to make; there were some tough conversations to be had. There were some life changes that needed to occur.

The wisdom of the backpack was not given; it was earned.

And it started with a decision.

“Jon, my daddy used to say, ‘To decide not to decide, is to decide not to.'”

Jon thought about that.

“We can't just go on thinking about what we're going to do with our backpacks. We have to intentionally decide what we are going to do, and then do it, correct?” Jon asked confidently.

“Another ringer!” Buddy replied.

“So,” Buddy continued, “the questions that remain are all about what you and I are going to do with our backpacks.”

For the remainder of the flight, the two new friends went back through each and every topic Buddy had promised to return to.

On personalities: Buddy explained that we study them to understand ourselves better and to recognize how others may be wired differently than us. But personalities are never an excuse for bad behavior. Buddy shared stories from his younger days when he used to blame his hot temper on his fiery personality. And on other people, of course. Neither is acceptable.

On why we behave the way we do: There is a reason. And paying attention to exactly what we are feeling in the moment is the way to choose the right behaviors—even amidst stress. Knowing we are stressed and why we are stressed leads us to make self‐aware choices to deal with that stress. And our stress level will lower.

On what should be stressful . . . and what should not: Buddy walked Jon through how stress is a neurological response to a threat. In the animal kingdom, the stress response is usually a matter of life and death. For humans, that's not so much the case. Souls have the unique ability, only shared by certain members of the ape species, to get stressed about things that are not life and death, things like missing a plane or losing a job.

On life's tempo: Jon had complained earlier that he never had time to sit and reflect, as Buddy had done. Buddy pointed out that there was one person ultimately in charge of Jon's schedule, especially his mental pace, in spite of setbacks like traffic and alarms—and that person was Jon.

On learning about all of this being fun: They had covered that one, but Buddy reminded Jon that there were many mistakes yet to come, for both of them. However, it can still be fun to learn to hurt fewer people and take better care of ourselves as we grow in awareness of our backpacks.

Finally, they reviewed Buddy's facts of life, including a few that Buddy had not shared with Jon previously.

Buddy's Facts of Life

• “People need friends.”
• “Everybody's got baggage.”
• “You cannot always choose what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond to what happens to you.”
• “No matter the circumstances, I am responsible for my reaction, including my anger.”
• “Do the right thing regardless of how others respond.”
• “Don't try to make everyone happy—or you'll make yourself miserable.”
• “Know that not everybody is going to love you, much less like you.”
• “Do not live your life worried about what other people think of you.”
• “Get out of your own world and be nice to others, regardless of what other people may think of you for doing so.”
• “You must be able to laugh at yourself.”
• “Words matter. Choose them wisely.”
• “We all make emotional and physical mistakes.”
• “You don't fully know what it's like to be me, and I don't fully know what it's like for you to be with me.”
• “Our personalities, our parents, our past, our certain peculiarities are all things we must accept.”
• “With no or even limited self‐awareness, you are constantly and unknowingly impacting others, sometimes positively and often negatively, with your backpack.”
• “The only folks who are really stuck are those who don't think they need feedback.”

And they reviewed the four things we all need to know when it comes to our backpacks.

1. “We need to know exactly which one is ours, decide what we want in it, and accept it.”
2. “We must take responsibility for it—all of it—at all times.”
3. “We need to understand exactly how it impacts anybody and everybody around us.”
4. “In order to live and enjoy this ole life of ours to the fullest we need to learn to love others well with everything that is in, and comes out of, our backpacks.”

They even talked about why Buddy referred to Jon by the nickname Lucky. It's all about perspective. Science had also demonstrated that developing a habit of gratitude was a key to a happy, enjoyable life. Taking the time to reflect on and write down things we are grateful for gives us a sense of wonder, joy, and peace. All things that Jon was missing at the beginning of his day.

Buddy wanted Jon to know that if he took time to count his blessings, he would understand how lucky he really was.

Jon's head was swimming. They discussed more thoughts and ideas than, in Buddy's words, “you can shake a stick at.”

“Buddy,” Jon began, calmly and thoughtfully.

Buddy nodded and waited.

“It's time to get back to my mess. Don't you think?”

“Yes, sir, my friend. I do believe the time is right.”

Buddy gave another big ole Texas grin and said, “Let's talk about what you are going to choose to do with your backpack.”