“Somewhere I read …how important it is
in life not to necessarily be strong ...but to feel strong.”
I am currently enrolled in a course
called Man’s Impact on the Environment. As a part of our participation, we have
to discuss articles relevant to the topic of studying that week. This week
happens to be Environmental Toxicology. A classmate of mine posted a really
interesting article regarding the death of Christopher McCandless as depicted
in the book and film, Into the Wild. The article challenged the idea that Christopher
died from “apparent starvation” and instead suggested that Christopher died
because he ingested large quantities of seeds from wild potatoes (which no one
knew was potentially toxic until recently). This idea got me thinking back to
Christopher’s journal entries, and how strong he had to have been going through
the excitement and challenges of living in the wild.
Earlier today I taught my first class
for the Women’s Fund this morning. Today’s lesson was on positive thinking and
self-confidence. The 15 ten year old girls in the room loved the lesson and the
activity. They had their own pink journal. They wrote about their triumphs and
struggles too.
Coincidence or not, I think it was a reminder to
acknowledge other people’s struggles and to appreciate our own. I think it is
really a skill that we must learn and continually practice to think positively
and remain resilient through life’s up’s and downs. The girls in class today
are off to a fantastic start. They will have many more times to practice “accepting
their mistakes and the mistakes of others” and to “focus on the happy things.” And
while Christopher’s death is sad, he realized the importance of this skill as
well.
I think the uncertainty of life events, the roller coaster of highs and lows, keeps us all looking forward to each day. Variety is the spice of life, right? And it is not possible to have light without
darkness. We attempt to control life. Plan every day and plan each trip. And
plan, plan, plan. Goals are important but sometimes I think it’s great to let
go of that control. You can’t really control most of what happens to you any way.
You can only control how you react to the things that happen (and even then it
can be difficult because if something is deeply rooted you might respond with emotions/actions
from the primitive brain). In my
opinion, our energy should be spent taking control of our emotions and
reactions, training ourselves to find the positive in every negative situation,
and re-framing our thinking around situations out of our control which may not
be in our favor.
I think Christopher McCandless has it right; it’s not
as important to be strong as it is to think and feel strong. So today,
regardless if you are having a great day or a terrible day, know that it is
just one day. Tomorrow will be different. And feel strong and be strong.
