How To Find Gifts All Year Round (Christmas Edition)

Tomorrow is Christmas Day!

To celebrate the holiday, today's letter will be a special edition about gratitude.

I recently had a profound experience with gratitude and I'm going to share it with you today. My hope is that it can help you find joy in the little things during this holiday season (and beyond).

This time of the year, everyone is talking about Santa and the hard work that he is doing up on the North Pole. So today, let's give the South Pole some love.

Last week I read a book called The Endurance by Alfred Lansing. The book tells the story of Ernest Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica in 1914. The expedition never made it to the South Pole. Their wooden ship became trapped in the ice and was eventually crushed and swallowed up by the frozen waters near Antarctica. Thousands of miles from home, and with no way of calling for help, the 28-man crew was left stranded on top of the shifting ice.

This story is packed tighter than Santa's sleigh, so let me tell you about just one member of the Shackleton expedition that wasn't supposed to be there at all. You see, when Endurance (the name of the ship) left port, the ship's manifest only listed 27 men on board. But there were actually 28 men aboard.

Stowed away in a tiny locker was an 18-year-old kid named Perce Blackborrow.

For 3 days, he was tucked away and hidden before being discovered. At this point, the ship was already hundreds of miles into its voyage and couldn't just turn around. So after he was sufficiently scolded by Shackleton, Perce was accepted as a member of the crew.

You are probably wondering...

What in the world does this 18-year-old stowaway have to do with gratitude?

Great question! And I'd be happy to answer it.

You see, once The Endurance became stranded, the crew endured a harrowing journey back to solid land. It was the middle of winter, their ship (and much of their supplies) were literally devoured by the ice, and no one was coming for them. Over hundreds of miles, they hiked, floated, and paddled their way to the nearest speck of land: Elephant Island. This island turned out to be a god-awful, nearly inhospitable place.

In the 60 miles leading up to the island, they paddled their barely-seaworthy lifeboats to the island. Enduring frigid Antarctic winds that were "so cold that if you smiled, your teeth would crack." With the boats constantly flooded by 38° water, they spent much of the trip partially submerged. Most of the men said that they preferred being submerged because it was warmer than the cold wind (uh, wut?).

This is one of the most powerful stories I've found and I can't do it justice in this letter. I am barely scratching the surface - I highly recommend you find the audiobook or watch the 90-minute movie. Worth every minute.

Barely sleeping at all, they rowed those piss-poor lifeboats for 6 days. To make matters worse, they had to wiggle their toes non-stop to keep blood circulating to their feet. Unfortunately, our stowaway Perce Blackborrow didn't wiggle his toes enough, and he eventually lost circulation to his feet.

Once the expedition arrived at Elephant Island, the ship's doctor was forced to amputate most of his toes. Sheesh. This adventure hadn't turned out quite the way Perce had expected, when he snuck onto the ship 20 months prior.

Stranded on that awful speck of land, they survived on a strict diet of penguin for 3 months. And apparently, penguin meat has a strong, "gamey" taste. Most modern-day palettes would struggle to eat penguin for a single meal, let alone for months.

At one point they surveyed each other, asking: "When we get home, what is the one thing that you want to eat first?". Most of the crew described a mouth-watering dessert or a feast of a meal. But when they ask Perce what he most wants to eat, do you know what he says?

"A slice of bread with some butter."

His casual comment hit me like a rock. Of all of the profound little anecdotes in this story, Perce's response made me appreciate what I have more than anything else.

You see, in the chaos of the world, it is easy to forget how amazing our lives actually are. Only when our creature comforts are stripped away do we begin to truly appreciate the most important things in our lives. The little things, you know? A warm blanket. Someone to give you a hug after a long day. A slice of bread with some butter.

I can't seem to find a word to describe exactly what those little things are. So I will make up a word for them: omni-presents. "Omni," because they are all around us, and "presents," because they are gifts that we have right now.

Get it?

These omni-presents easily fade into the background, but they are the foundation upon which our lives are built. A literal example of how fundamental these are: when was the last time you gave thanks for the firm foundation that holds up your house? Or showed appreciation for the carefully constructed roof that keeps you dry? I hadn't thought about either, until I wrote this.

Here is a thought to help tie a bow on all of this:

• When you have everything, you appreciate nothing.

• When you have nothing, you appreciate everything.

• Gratitude is the key difference.

Focus on what you have before you focus on what you don't.

Christmas Day is tomorrow. Once you have unwrapped all of your new presents, and the initial flurry of excitement has worn off, remember that there are gifts available to you in every moment, all year-round.

Although they may have faded into the background, your omni-presents are hard at work keeping you safe and happy. Always be on the lookout for those gifts, because the harder you look for them, the more you will find.

Best wishes to you and yours, this holiday season.

- Cliff