The other day I wrote a quick article on the importance of having a positive attitude when you catch a cold, due to your expectations having a great impact upon the reality which you subsequently experience. I mentioned in this article that I was due to go on an airplane and that I was intrigued by peoples negative expectations about the experience.

The point I was making was that if you expect your ears to hurt when you have a cold and you are flying on an airplane you are more likely to notice that they hurt; if you expect to feel alright and make plans so as to be able to distract your attention away from your cold the outcome experienced is likely to be a whole lot more pleasant.

I've had a few people ask me how my flight went. I'm pleased to report that it was perfectly comfortable. I kept myself busy by writing a couple of articles whilst sitting in the airport lounge before boarding the plane in San Francisco. I had my box of tissues handy and all sorts of soothing lozenges stacked by my side. One brave man ventured to sit nearby whilst in the lounge; he subsequently turned out to be my seating companion on the airplane.

We made a pact; I wouldn't sneeze over him and he wouldn't snore! Or, we would at least try our best to comply. My various medications and tissues came in handy, hypnosis mp3s helped me to sleep and my ears didn't hurt at all. My companion didn't snore and he avoided being poked in his ribs! (He told me that his wife had given instructions for him to tell anyone to feel free to do just that if they felt it necessary.)

We spent a good part of the journey chatting and we have made plans to catch up some time back in San Francisco and play golf. Eleven hours later, we landed at Heathrow. That's what I call a great flight. And today has gone really well too. My bag came through quickly, there was no queue at customs, and my driver was waiting for me and whisked me off to Gatwick where I managed to swap to an earlier flight to the Isle of Man.

And here I am now, thinking about how I am so very glad I did not spend hours on end yesterday wasting energy upon worrying about how dreadful my flight would be or how much my ears would hurt!

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads for health and well-being.