I remember years back while I was snowboarding in Canada.  I was standing on a snowy cliff getting ready to drop into a steep mountain chute.

 Mt. Whistler (a mountain in Canada) had beckoned me.  Here I was, on the edge, ready to drop about 20 feet off a vertical icy cliff into a vast mountain bowl.  I was knee deep snow, the wind was about 30 knots, and I was at 8000 feet, on an unknown part of the Mountain, cold, nervous, and alone.  My emotions were running high! What if I fall? What if I make it? What if I die? What if, what if, what if…..  I was then reminded that “Glory” lay in the attempt.  Glory (success, love, you can insert whatever word you are trying achieve) was NOT in the outcome, it was indeed in my “attempt”.  It didn’t matter if I made a “successful jump and snowboarded down the hill”, all that mattered was that I make the best calculated guess and then; make my move.

This same mindset has guided me in my medicine and with my patients on the road to recovery. (Whatever that recovery may be).  Each day we try, each day we make an effort, we achieve “Glory”.  The success is in the attempt.  We can’t control the outcomes, but we can control our ability to do the best we can.  In “recovery” or the “road to health” there will always be stumbling blocks, curves, detours, sickness, and maladies but as long as we make the “attempt” at a healthier life today, we are achieving the “Glory”.

Below is a wonderful quote I keep with me when I become frustrated with my “outcomes”.  When I lose sight of my magnificence attempts I am reminded to slow down, breathe, try again, and not be worried about my “outcome”.

Excerpt from Dan Milkman’s book on Living on Purpose:

“We can control efforts, not outcomes.  Serenity, patience, and wisdom are born of this understanding:  we cannot directly control people, events, or results.  We cannot control whether we sink a putt, win game, find love, succeed in business, or create world peace.  But by making the effort we vastly improve the odds of achieving what we desire.  No Matter what we think or feel, doubt or fear; despite our past or parents; our efforts still shape our lives.  Doing your best is a job well done.  So make the effort, and then accept the outcomes.  Let go of what you can’t control.

 

As for that day on a cold, lonely, snowy cliff; I achieved “glory”.  I dropped into the steep icy chute and realized that the success of that “leap” was in the very instant I left the cliff.  After that, no of it mattered to me.

Stay strong; stay healthy, and never quit.  The race is to the long.  Live today and be well!

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