Blog #709: The Day I Perfected My Whine

“Gratitude.”
It’s a chosen attitude.

And the more I choose it…
The easier it is to navigate life’s toughest moments.

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If you’ve read this blog for long…

You have probably noticed I end every Extra Mile Thursday blog with it. I end every email I send with the word. I use it frequently in conversations.

Gratitude.

I’ve come to believe in its moment-changing power.

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This past week…

I received an email from a longtime reader, John M. He’s a former detective and a guy who’s visited more countries than anybody I know.

When he sends ME an email, I know inspiration is coming. I give him credit for sparking today’s topic. (An excerpt from his email is included at the end of this blog.)

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I’ve shared this story before.

It has value in sharing it again now.

It was 2014.

I was walking solo 550 miles across Spain.
It was my first crazy walk across a country.

It was very, very easy to whine once I started walking.

My feet and toes grew multiple blisters fast.
My shoulders hated carrying my to0-heavy backpack.
My body was intensely tired.
I was always hungry.

But I perfected my whine about 200 miles into crossing Spain.

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At that point…

I got trapped by the NASTIEST rainstorm I had ever seen.

I was in a valley and had nowhere to hide.

There were no buildings.
There were no trees.
I had no umbrella.

I was about three miles away from any sort of protective cover, and the trail I was walking was composed of a super weird clay that had the magical, dark power to quickly turn into ultra-squishy, deep-sinking mud.

Each step I took became slower as my ankles sank deeper. Each step became heavier as my sneakers became caked with building mud.

Without shame I share, I really wanted to just cry.

The moment sucked miserably.

I was in wet hell.

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But that’s where I mysteriously found it.

Not the word.
But the feeling.

Gratitude.

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In my moment of muddy, wet chaos…

My brain was drowning deeply in crazy negativity.
My self-dialogue was starting to grow hugely desperate.

“I’m sooo screwed!” I said to myself.

But a few minutes into my walking, drowning, and sinking…weirdness hit. In a crazy moment, drowning in crazy negativity, in a crazy storm, I had a crazy thought.

I heard a whisper in my head.
“Say…thank you.”

The whisper turned to a voice.
“You’ve never done anything like this, and you’re lucky to be living this outrageous once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Say…thank you.”

I started an argument in my head with a voice that was also…mine:
“Huh? What! How can I say what I in no way feel!?

The whisper again.
“Just do it. Say the words. Say…thank you.”

I went with it.

I thought the words.
“Thank you.”

I whispered the words.
“Thank you.”

I said the words out loud.
“Thank you.”

I said the words…and meant them.
“Thank you!”

The moment’s momentum grew into something I can’t explain.

“Thank you…for seeing, feeling and living things I’ve never seen, felt or lived!”
“Thank you…for a bed last night, food this morning, and money for tonight!”
“Thank you…for being able to experience this unbelievable adventure!”
“Thank you…for the energy to keep my feet moving forward!”
“Thank you…for the chance to be here and LIVE!

A few minutes later…

The storm bizarrely stopped.

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“Say thank you.”

Feel gratitude.

It’s real.
It’s science.

And as one crappy-turned-magical walk through mud in Spain taught me…
It has the power to soften the storms of our lives.

Thank you for walking with me here…today.

I hope I added value to your world.

S.

(Audio version)