Before the flight I stress about what to pack.
I smile and say hello and thank you to the airline employees and TSA like I do in almost any situation where I interact with people. Restaurants, retail stores, flights, all the same to me.
I won’t do the xray, I always ask for a pat down.
I wear primarily cotton and comfortable shoes. Synthetic fabrics flame up fast and melt to your skin if God forbid there is an emergency. I purposely wear thickish trousers, usually jeans, because I always ask for a pat down in security. Comfortable shoes both for emergencies and for practicality walking through airports while carrying things.
I always bring a cardigan or sweat jacket for warmth.
I used to always try to get an emergency exit before they started charging extra for them.
I always wear my seat belt while seated.
I try to move around every hour and a half or so, even if it is just lifting my butt off the seat and shuffling my legs while still in the seat. Long flights I take some aspirin before the flight.
If I have a large carry-on that is heavy I ask a man near me to help me put it in the overhead compartment if he has not offered already. This happens less often now that they have become so strict with liquids.
I check where the nearest emergency exit is and pay attention to whether my floating device is my seat cushion or somewhere else if ai am flying near or over water, although I don’t listen attentively to the entire safety speech since I know most of it verbatim.