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In 1982
Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat
when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping
lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few.
His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him
seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a
shipwreck on a life raft alone), he was alive -- much skinnier
than he was when he started, but alive.
His
account of how he survived is fascinating. His ingenuity -- how
he managed to catch fish, how he fixed his solar still
(evaporates sea water to make fresh) -- is very interesting.
But the
thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself
going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in
continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his
life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling
with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and
wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved.
He was
desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted.
Giving up
would have seemed the only sane option.
When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do
something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep
going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in
or go mad.
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Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find
the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds.
"I
tell myself I can handle it," wrote Callahan in his
narrative. "Compared to what others have been through, I'm
fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up
fortitude."
I wrote
that down after I read it. It struck me as something important.
And I've told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far
off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time
I've said it, I have always come back to my senses.
The
truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something
better. But others have been through much worse. I've read
enough history to know you and I are lucky to be where we are,
when we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our
fantasies. It's a sane thought and worth thinking.
So
here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words
that can give us strength. Whatever you're going through, tell
yourself you can handle it. Compared to what others have been
through, you're fortunate. Tell this to yourself over and over,
and it will help you get through the rough spots with a little
more fortitude.
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Perspective
is one of the most important aspects of our lives. How we see things
determines more of our happiness our
unhappiness, positive or negative feelings, than
we might
ever imagine. One person's undefeatable obstacle is another
person's
stumbling block; what I see as an insult another
person may see as a funny joke.
The ways in which we react to things are usually a reflection of how we've seen them.
tom walsh |
