Mental Toughness -Part 4

Stephen Ambrose’s “Undaunted Courage” depicted Meriwether Lewis’s, expedition in the opening of the American West. Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame, dealt with many personal demons during and after this momentous journey. As you may know, Lewis suffered from depression, and died at an early age as a result of suicide. In Laura Hillenbrand’s,  bestseller “ Unbroken” ,she depicted Lieut. Louis Zamperini’s, an Olympic runner, experiences as a POW during World War II and his ability to withstand and persevere through various unbelievable and extreme torture ordeals handed out by the “Bird” and others while in Japanese  occupation. Louis’s release, difficulty with alcohol, anxiety and mental illness going from despair, to forgiveness, finding God, and leading a productive and fulfilling life demonstrate his grit and resourcefulness.

First, it is clear there is a mind-body connection. Not only is there simply a connection, there is a powerful relationship between what happens in our mind or brain and the effects on the physiology of our body. One example that illustrates this magnificent mind-body correlation was taken from Viktor Frankel’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning-An Introduction to Logotherapy.” In this book, Dr. Frankel tells the story of a prisoner, in Auschwitz, who had lost his faith in the future and as a result, believed his life was doomed. The story goes like this: a senior block Warden, who was a well-known composer confided to Dr. Frankel when he told him about his dream “A voice told me that I could wish for something that I should say only what I wanted to know, and all my questions would be answered. What do you think I asked? That, I would like to know when the war would be over for me. You know what I mean, Dr.-for me! I wanted to know when we, when our camp would be liberated and our sufferings come to an end.” Dr. Frankel asked “and when did you have this dream?” In February, 1945 “he answered. Dr. Frankel noted that it was then the beginning of March. Dr. Frankel “what did your dream voice answer?” He whispered to me, “March 30” when the prisoner told me about his dream, he was still full of hope, and convinced that the voice of his dream would be right. But as the promised date drew near, the war news, which reached our camp made it appear very unlikely that we would be free on the promised date. On March 29, the prisoner suddenly became ill and ran high temperature. On March 30, the day his prophecy had told him the war and suffering would be over for him, he became delirious and lost consciousness. On March 31, he was dead. To all outward appearances, he had died of typhus.” This dramatic and sad example illustrates how close and powerful the connection between the state of our mind and its resulting deadly effect on the state of our body. In this case we see the dramatic effects when the individual lost all courage and hope, and died.

More to follow. Continue to keep moving, laughing, smiling, bonding, loving and appreciating.