Pride + Gratitude

Two complimentary states of being: proud and grateful. They fit well into my half-full cup of conscious reality. My dad just shared a video with me that helped reaffirm these concepts in my current era of life. In the clip, two men were conversing about hardship. One man said, “If you had the opportunity to trade your hardships for someone else’s, some random, unknown person in the world, would you do it?” The other man replied, “No way”; and that simple reply back-hand slapped me with a reawakening of perspective.

Perspective heals all in my head. Maybe some people view this as having ignorant positivity, but it works wonderfully for me; and if the shoe fits… Actively changing the lens of how you view things is hard to do consistently, but man does it pay BIG dividends. This practice is the key to unlocking eternal gratitude. If we can mentally reposition ourselves out of turmoil and struggle, and onto Aladdin’s magic carpet ride, we can see ourselves living in a whole new world! It is truly a dazzling place, but we ALWAYS knew this; even if recent or compounding events made us forget. After we reposition ourselves, from way up here, it’s crystal clear, we can thrive in being proud of who we are and how we live our lives.

Tomorrow is the 250th anniversary of the US, and as a veteran of our military, it makes me extremely proud to see the country continue to flourish. So many have sacrificed their lives for our country’s agenda over the decades, and I think of that often during my quiet moments. I’ve been tickled with delight seeing World Cup tourists experience BBQ, guns, free refills, and Costco shopping over the past few weeks online. A theme surfaced from their mouths after their experiences: “We’ve been told a lot of things about the States, but we haven’t seen any of that since visiting.” Do we have our problems? YUP. Are some of them really terrible and far from ideal? YUP. But, nothing is perfect, and that’s perfectly okay. People from around the world are currently experiencing first-hand what American freedoms feel, look, and taste like. I think it’s a wonderful thing for them, it brings so much perspective and knowledge to all, and it makes me grateful to be a citizen of the greatest country on Earth.

Pride: washing my car. This was taught to me by my father, watching and helping him wash “Mom and Dad’s cars”. I’ve washed a 90s Ford Taurus, a 90s Ford Ranger, an Acura TL, a GMC Yukon, a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, a Chevy Trailblazer, an RX-8, an RX-7, a Corolla, a RAV4, and a Tahoe. Looking back at all of my memories of washing these vehicles, it turns out that it didn’t matter what the vehicle was, only that it needed to be washed. It either belonged to me or someone that I loved, so I spent time and energy to take care of it. You can have a $5k car or a $50k car, I promise you, they both feel the same when you’re putting in the work to keep them beautiful. Afterward, just before the sun goes down behind the trees and you snap a picture of your glistening driveway beauty, the proud feeling you get is always the best payoff.

Gratitude: having the ability to work hard. This was taught to me by many in my life, but I explicitly remember my grandpa saying, “Never be afraid of hard work.” So I never was. I got my first job as soon as I could at 14, as a pizza maker at an Italian place called Sal’s in Lake Worth, FL. I was nervous… “Make food for adults? But I’m just a kid.” The manager said so plainly, “Don’t worry; we’ll teach you.” So I made food for adults. After moving to a new town the following year, I had to find a new job if I wanted to keep minutes on my orange Sony-Ericsson Walkman cellphone. To fuel my Cingular Wireless lifestyle, I landed a job at FinishLine as a shoe salesman, even though I knew nothing about sales, running shoes, comfort vs correction builds, or the technical analysis of a client's gait. Again, the manager said, “Don’t worry; we’ll teach you.” So I sold shoes to adults. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed working hard to accomplish the material goals that I have in this life. Sometimes there’s even meaningful, non-material moments to enjoy at work, and those really bring on the smiles. But no matter the work, easy or hard, I’m just grateful I have the health to provide for those I love. I’d flip burgers, mow lawns, fly planes, sell shoes, or make pizza if it meant a good life for my family. I’m just happy to be here, boss.

So while being proud and grateful will look like car washes and lawn cutting to me, it will probably look very different to you. I’d love to know what it looks like for others. If we all hop on our magic carpets, will there be any more street rats? Or will we all turn into princes and princesses in our own minds? Our morsels of bread will turn into never-ending loaves, and our pet monkeys will turn into royal elephants, transporting us to our proud castles of gratitude.