In both victory and defeat there are lessons to be learned. I just finished reading The Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown and absolutely loved it. The crew had to show resilience on their journey leading up to Hitler’s 1936 Olympics.
I enjoyed this book for many reasons. Not only was it incredibly well written and descriptive, but personal accounts provided by these real people brought the story to life.
Brown writes,
It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.
Everyday we are faced with new challenges. Whether we succeed brilliantly or utterly fail our task, it’s just another day. We can use gratitude to remind ourselves that we’ve made it this far. We can say the sun will rise again tomorrow. We have another opportunity to make things right, to try, try again. Gratitude and patience give us this power and it’s ours to wield.
The Boys In The Boat are special cases of what can happen with true collaboration and trust. Their incredible adventure was spurred by rowing but made possible by their hearts.
01.28.19
Today I’m Grateful For…
- My family
- Warm blankets and comfy pillows
- Fixing things when they need to be fixed
- A little understanding
- Patient reminders from the Universe
- Walks through an empty campus
- The Boyden steps at BSU
- Friends from home
- Clean water
- My girlfriend, JV
- Sledding down the hill as a kid
- Summer audiobooks and podcasts
- Time at the gym
- Friends from Cambodia and the UK
- Learning new things
- Being on time
- My Peer Mentors at UMass
- Embracing change
- My process
- Sharing gratitude and having a platform to process
- Healthy cooking together
- Time to journal and reflect
- Safe travels and good health
- Clean teeth
- The precious present
As always, check out my first blog 25 Things I’m Grateful For (#1) to know why I’m writing this list and why I want you to start yours.
If you’re interested in Guest Blogging for the Gratitude Journal, click (here)!
Featured image of the sunset
