I don't like when I read articles that tell us all the negative things that affect us as we get older.

I'm a positive person and I insist on staying that way, thank you very much.But one day last week just about did me in. It's hard to stay positive when nature and circumstances conspire against you.For weeks, my daughters and I have looked forward to my trip to New Jersey where I will be my granddaughter's Confirmation sponsor.In addition to that big event, my daughters and I planned to spend a day at the Philadelphia Flower Show.I love visiting Philly. I keep gawking at everything, like a tourist. Well, I am a tourist I guess. I only get to Philly about once a year and that's always a brief visit for something specific.The last time I was there it was to see my daughter's Wild Chairy art studio. She does "chairs as art" and her studio reflects her flair for design.After I saw the studio I had hoped to stay in the city for a while but our calendar was jammed with activity. "Someday we'll come and just make a day of it here when we're not rushed," promised Andrea.When daughter Maria saw that the Philadelphia Flower Show was taking place the same week I would be there for my granddaughter's Confirmation, she suggested we make a Philadelphia day. Andrea got us tickets for the flower show and I was really excited about the visit.Oh, sure, I grouched about the cold weather in the Northeast. Here I am in Southwest Florida where temperatures are an incredible 85 degrees during the day followed by breezy nights. It was so blazing hot Sunday that we had to wait until late in the day to kayak.All my clothes are for that kind of balmy weather.When I looked online and saw I was flying into frigid temperatures, I ran around trying to find cold weather clothes. And boots! I haven't worn boots for 10 years. But Andrea said they were expecting snow the day I arrived."Don't worry about it," she said. "They always tell us we're getting a big storm and all we get is a dusting. We probably won't get anything in this part of Jersey."Now that's an optimistic kid.Here in Florida, I played in sunshine until it was time to go online for my boarding pass.It turns out Andrea was right. They weren't getting the 1 to 3 inches of snow originally forecast. They were getting 8 to 10.Instead of retrieving a boarding pass online, I had a big red cancellation notice. All flights to Philadelphia were canceled for Thursday.I hated to lose a day of what was only going to be a four-day trip but I thought booking a flight for the next day wouldn't be a problem.Wrong again.The airline told us online we could only change our reservations by calling their main number. I tried for four hours and got nothing but a busy signal.Meanwhile, as I watched online, the flights that were scheduled for Friday had sold out.Okay, I admit it. At that point I panicked. Confirmation was early Saturday morning. As my granddaughter's sponsor, I had to be there.I called another airline that had a flight that would get me to Philly by 11 p.m. But first it would take me from Florida to Missouri where I would spend a few hours. Not ideal, but I booked the flight anyway.After seven hours of trying to get through to my original airline, I finally got a real person on the line. Isn't it something when we rejoice when we hear a human voice?That human was wonderful. He booked me on the last seat of a flight that would get me to Philadelphia by 6:15 p.m., if all went well.The younger, always optimistic me would think, of course it will all work out. But I sat worrying about connecting flights and what could go wrong."Relax," says my younger daughter, who did exactly that, even though her rearranged schedule would make a sane person crazy. In addition to picking me up at the airport, she had to meet one son at the bus station and get another son to the train station all at different times and locations. While doing all that she had to figure out how to house and feed so much company."No problem." she said. "It will all get done and we'll be fine."I used to be like that.I was an always a calm problem solver. My girlfriend, Carol, used to claim I had ice in my blood because I stayed calm under extreme circumstances, including when three guys tried to break into the remote cabin we were renting.I think I still stay calm in emergency situations. But now that I'm older I tend to worry more about things going wrong.Fortunately, I can still give myself an attitude adjustment when I need one.I realize worrying changes nothing. So why do I keep forgetting that?I'm happy to say my attitude adjustment worked.Remember that old song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy?"If my new relaxed attitude slips, I'll just sing the song long enough to remember to lighten up on worrying.