You are the Luckiest Person in the World

I hope you all had a great weekend. Last week I was listening to an interview with Steve Gleason who is a retired New Orleans Saints football player. The Saints are an important team in my house because my husband is from Louisiana and we both went to college there and Steve Gleason became famous in 2006 for blocking a punt in the first Saints game back in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. It was a huge moment of hope for New Orleans. He retired a few years later and was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. That is when I learned a lot more about him.

Since his diagnosis he has raised over 40 million dollars to support research and those living with ALS. He also just published a book that he wrote with his eyes (and the help of AI technology) about his journey through ALS. He is alive way past his expiration date and even though he has lost all control and function of his body he is grateful. He went on to say that losing control of everything made him realize that the one thing he somewhat had control of is his mindset. “It’s like I am investigating what can people do to move from fear to freedom, from suffering to strength, from loss to love or from hell to heaven. This body may be a prison, but my mind is free.” 

He shared how he had a recent health event where he almost died (during a hurricane earlier this season ironically) and that he is “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” 

Well, if Steve Gleason believes he is the luckiest man on the earth, then we most certainly can believe the same. Sometimes our bodies and our lives feel like prisons in different ways but our mindset is always in our control. On the mat we practice focusing on the most important thing and channeling our energy into the present moment. That is all practice we need to connect to gratitude off of it. 

This was his advice: “I find the truth that we all have a timeline absolutely beautiful. Live like today is the last day you will be able to move, talk, and breathe on your own. How would your perspective shift? Will you be more appreciative and less concerned about achievement or material success? If I were to request anything from people it would be practice living with a timeline. Please fully appreciate and truly love this wonderful life.” 

Well said Steve. The idea of living on a timeline can seem terrifying but I too see it as beautiful. We only have so much time and its an unknowable amount. We aren’t given a schedule. Being as present as possible with the knowledge that we are “the luckiest people in the world” today is the gift of gratitude.