I finally arrived in the Philippines after (only!) 22 hours of traveling.
I was quite worried when my first flight (Minneapolis to Detroit) was originally delayed by 30 minutes due to bad weather in Detroit. Then I felt better after the captain announced that we had been cleared so we took off only 25-30 minutes after the scheduled departure. Then, half way to our destination, the captain announced that Detroit airport was shut down for the weather, and we didn't have enough fuel to maintain a holding pattern indefinitely, so we would return back to Minneapolis. Upon arrival back to Minneapolis (the flight wasn't canceled, just "delayed indefinitely"), I knew that, even though my connection from Detroit would likely be delayed as well, I would probably not be able to make it there in time, and would likely end up spending the night in the Detroit airport.
So I spoke with somebody at Delta who rescheduled me within five minutes to a flight that left in less than one hour and went straight from Minneapolis to Japan. Then, from there, I would catch a connection that would get me to Manila 1 hour earlier than even my original ticket. The woman that I spoke to was very polite, efficient, and effective, and Delta gets many points for this in my book. The only drawback with this arrangement is that Delta would not get my bags from underneath the first plane until my original flight was officially canceled (which didn't end up happening). Thus, I spent 24 hours in Manila without any of my checked bags, and needed to pay for a cab to and from the airport for two days in a row.
The moral of the story is that things can (and often do) happen that are outside your control, but the best thing you can do is try your best to achieve the best outcome. After my second arrival in Minneapolis, I could have sat and waited on the plane (like they recommended) and sulked in self-pity about how my total trip time would now end up being approximately 48 hours, or I could have gotten angry and yelled at the gate agents about all my problems and how they should fix them. But because I was logical and rational, I decided to avoid ceding my freewill to helplessness or anger, and I was able to accomplish what I wanted. Though I believed that it would be too good to be true for me to get on the direct flight, by actively attempting to do so, I succeeded. Of course this wont always be the case, but you should never be too quick to give up when it comes to getting what you want, otherwise you rarely will.