I’m writing this newsletter from an airplane. I’m watching a college football game on my phone, too. In about two-and-a-half hours, I’ve travelled hundreds of miles in a metal tube tens of thousands of feet above the ground. Not only did I not have to worry—statistically speaking—about whether or not I’d arrive to my destination alive, I didn’t even have to stop talking to the friends that live in my phone.

This is incredible!

Air travel is the thing that always puts me into a mindset of appreciating the massive technological achievements that we’ve accomplished that allow modern society to be what it is today. I don’t really understand how planes work, if I’m being honest. I don’t have to! I just give them money, they let me in the tube and give me snacks and soft drinks and a seatbelt, and then I end up exactly where I wanted to go.

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There are a lot of really annoying things about modern life, and we talk about all of those pretty regularly. Spam calls and never-ending emails, Slack messages after business hours and bills from the doctor that don’t have online payment portals all get my goat. But we’ve also got remote work, fundraisers for good causes that people all over the world can donate to, and communities for every interest you can think of.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m always looking for the bright side of things. I complain more than most people, probably, even though I have fewer reasons to complain than most. But hopping on a plane is something that always resets my outlook and orients me in a way that lets me appreciate the trove of giant human achievements that enables every little modern convenience I usually take for granted.

Air travel might not be thing that does that for you, but I recommend finding something that seems so impossible that it blows your mind that we all act like it’s a totally normal thing to do. Allow yourself to be amazed every once in a while.