Letter 9

Hi folks, this week I want to talk about perseverance and the development of character. Then I want to share a little-something of encouragement for your week ahead.

The other week I went for a hike 2 days into the pacific crest trail. It was the first chance I’ve had to do it and I went for it. I’ve had a bulged disk in my back for about 5 years and I used to be at a 6/7 of pain every day. There’s something about chronic pain that’s indescribable unless you’ve had it. The distance of your empathy for others changes; somebody’s talking to you about how their cat doesn’t prefer the less expensive brand and you’re there, listening, at a 7 in pain which feels like you’re trapped in your body being tortured all day. You can’t relate to fi-fi the cat or the story. When the distance of your empathy reduces so does your opportunity to love people where they’re at.

I had my fourth round of PRP in my back. It’s about 26 injections of plasma around and against my spine. It was such intense pain that the table I was lying on was covered in a cold sweat. But then it starts to heal, slowly slowly. I’m at a 1 or a 2 in pain now days and it’s like being given a gift. I have enough empathy for fi-fi’s owner AND the guy that pulled a thread on his sweater. I haven’t been hiking in many years because of my back, so because of the healing I backpacked on the Pacific crest trail for 4 days (2 days in, 2 back) and wrote a few things that I want to share. They’re about adversity, perseverance, the development of character, values, purpose, growth and comfort. I’ll be spreading the writings over the next few blog posts to explain it all in detail. I hope the following helps you in a small way:

“You're always given more than you can handle because you’re meant to contribute. Without adversity beyond what you’re capable of then there is no evolution of character. You’re designed to molt your old self like a catacomb. The pressure needs to be higher than you’re capable of because you need to be a different person in order to persevere. And in that dynamic there are two options, to avoid or to persevere. Perseverance is the long road, it’s always less comfortable. But comfort is a debt on the development of our character.”

This might sound intense; it’s just condensed truth. Some people develop the same facets of their character over 20 years as others do in 20 weeks. But both people face the same process; it’s about realizing that the side effect of a bad habit is harder than the development of character that avoids it.

The old you isn’t capable of persevering, but the new you can. The new you is scary because to truly let go of the old you involves letting go of what you know and becoming receptive to what you don’t. It’s about deciding to turn away from the known and walk directly into the unknown. It’s like going into a new culture where you don’t speak the language - the simple things have to be relearned if you want the simple things.

This is what I’m saying: you’re meant to become more. You’re meant to grow. Don’t be afraid to take on what you aren’t capable of because your fear isn’t your wisdom, your context of perseverance is your wisdom. And with every small and large unknown that you learn through, you become just .2% or .8% more than yesterday, indiscernible… until you add it up.

You aren’t designed to avoid, you’re designed to overcome, because in this life you’ve inherited a responsibility to contribute something greater than your comfort. And you can.

I know this isn’t what you were looking for on an RV manufacturers website. But it’s my heart talking straight to yours and I hope it lands. Thank you for reading this letter and keep being an amazing person.

-M