One Lesson…
Early on February 14, during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, a young speed skater named Dan Jansen was informed that his sister Jane was dying of leukemia.
A few hours after speaking with her, Dan received the news of Jane’s death. Overcome with grief and just hours before the 500-meter race, Jansen chose to compete. It was an event he was expected to win. And he was convinced that his sister would have wanted him to race.
Dan fell in the first turn. And that’s the beginning of the “jinx.”
The 1,000-meter race followed four days later. Dan dedicated the race to his sister Jane. He started at a record-breaking pace. Then just past the 800-meter mark, it happened again. Dan fell.
Dan’s Olympic jinx continued in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
Now in Lillehammer in 1994 for his final Olympic Games as a competitor, Dan made a minor slip in the 500-meter race—the same race in which he had recently set a new world record. He finished in eighth place.
With Dan’s last chance for an Olympic gold medal only four days away, he chose a surprising strategy to prepare for his final race.
Dan chose to focus on GRATITUDE.
Win or lose, Dan planned to retire after the 1,000-meter race. For that reason, he wanted to show the whole world what a gift speed skating had been for him. He wanted to demonstrate gratitude for all the sacrifices people had made and for the opportunity to participate in a sport he loved so deeply. As he approached the 1,000-meter final, Dan focused on joy, love, and gratitude.
The rest, as they say, is history. Dan Jansen won an Olympic gold medal and set a new Olympic record in a race where he had finished twenty-sixth two years prior. That’s not all. Competitors in that gold-medal race included seven individuals with faster times than Dan in earlier races, including the current world record holder.
Gratitude is powerful. I know—because practicing gratitude has worked for me.
I have vivid memories of my struggle after being diagnosed with PTSD—my “crazy cycles” of nightmares, daydreams, racing pulse, and anxiety. I remember thinking, “What if this doesn’t stop? What if I can’t flip the switch? What if I can’t get out of the hole?”
As I wrestled with these questions, I arrived at an empowering conclusion: I would be okay.
It wouldn’t be easy—I knew that. But I could endure this struggle if I chose gratitude and focused on everything I had to be thankful for: God and his grace. My wife, family, and friends. The people who rescued me and supported my recovery. And so much more.
Gratitude is more than just a “feel good” idea. Gratitude is like gravity. It’s a law of nature—made by God and backed by evidence and science. But there’s a catch.
Gratitude only works if you practice it.
I unpack a variety of gratitude applications in my book LIVE AGAIN! Today I will teach you one of them. If you feel beat up, burned out, and broken—this one might be the one you need most. It might also be the most difficult.
Ask yourself: Who are the people and what are the circumstances that hurt, cheated, challenged, or troubled you? Who or what has kicked your butt or maybe even broken you? You have a list—I know you do. So do I. Take a few minutes to name them. You can do that in your head or on paper.
Here’s a way to both turn the tables on those people and circumstances and heal at the same time. Rather than carry around the weight of hurt and anger—THANK THEM.
I’m serious about this. Look that person, disease, problem, or tragedy in the eye and thank them for helping you grow to be a stronger person than you’d have ever been without them.
Feel that? Your focus is changing. So is your attitude and your outlook. You’re also calming your mind, lowering your blood pressure, and putting your heart in a place of peace, strength, and gratitude.
Remember, each day you can choose to feel angry, frustrated, resentful, hateful, and jealous. Or you can choose to feel grateful. Please give it a try.
LIVE AGAIN! is available on Amazon.com
And share this link with a friend who thinks it might be too late to make a difference.
Until next time, remember…
You are here to make a difference. You shine when you help others.
You are the answer to someone else’s prayers. People need you.
You are a gift to the people around you. But when you don’t take care of yourself, you take that gift away.
It’s not too late for you to LIVE AGAIN!
With gratitude,
John