My last day with the Necklace

“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.