I went to the movie “Adrift” this weekend.
It is a true story about a couple who set sail from Tahiti to San Diego and get caught in a hurricane.
As you can imagine…
It didn’t go well.
There is a point in the movie where Tami, in desperation exclaims…
“We’re going to die out here!”
Richard calmly responds,
“Everything’s going to be ok.”
And it got me thinking.
Neither of them knew for certain what the future held.
They were adrift in the middle of the Pacific.
They were not in any flight paths.
They had no sail and no engine.
And they were running out of water.
It seemed pretty bleak.
But…
They had the rudder pointing them in the direction of Hawaii.
Tami had been calculating their position with a sextant and a map and good, old-fashioned mathematics.
They had some food.
They collected rain water.
But most importantly of all…
They had a choice.
No matter what, we always get to choose what we think.
We are solely responsible for our perception of the world and our circumstances.
This is the glass half full/half empty scenario…
On steroids.
Because you get to choose whether it’s a glass or a tumbler or a mug or a paper cup…
And you get to choose what it’s full of.
Even if you are floating on a broken sailboat in the middle of the ocean with no hope of rescue…
You can choose to believe in imminent death in all of its horrific detail,
Or…
You can choose to believe in life.
It all begins with a thought.
