A "Got It" Moment

One of my “got it” moments I will never forget.

It was 2:30 a.m. I was in the middle of a 24-hour adventure race on the island of Guam, hiking in a rainstorm IN a river with water up to my waist with my three teammates. We were wearing headlights but they don’t really work too well deep in the jungle at night when it’s raining, miles from the nearest village. We had been racing since 6 a.m.: running, hiking, biking, swimming, river and ocean kayaking, etc. I was completely and utterly exhausted, hungry and out of water. We had lost our bearings and were following this river, hoping it would lead to the ocean or a bridge or anything recognizable. Quitting was not an option in that terrain at that time of night.

At 35 I was the oldest person on the team and also the only female, but I realized then that I was in heaven and at peace. I realized that all the months of training, sweating, eating healthy, planning and research led up to that moment.

We ended up laughing uncontrollably, regrouped, and by chance found our way out just a few hours later. We were the first place co-ed team to finish the race! My life is now full with work, being a wife and mother, and many other activities, but I am no doubt fulfilled when I am in the wilderness of God’s beautiful green earth, physically and mentally challenged, pushed to the brink of exhaustion, but knowing that our minds really do work over matter.

Help instead of hinder

I've been observing how humans feel the need to make critical comments about others or about issues. It's almost as if we truly believe that if we make a critical comment about someone or something, we are actually helping the person or the situation. The challenge I believe is to keep those criticisms to ourselves. We can't help the negative thoughts that creep into our minds. They spawn from a long life of either hearing others beating someone or something down or someone criticizing our own actions, appearance or ideas. If we can learn to fight them, lock them down before they slip out, we'd all be better off. Consider that feeling we get once we let out a negative comment or criticize someone else (especially when they're not around). Is it pride? Accomplishment? Usually not. We usually regret it later. If that's the case, privately write it down instead of saying it out loud. Then figure out a way we can turn that negativity into something positive for that person, situation, issue or idea. Attempt to be part of a solution instead of perpetuating or excacerbating negativity surrounding a problem. What small, subtle action can we take to help improve that situation or that person's life who we must criticize?