Henry Stanley (1841-1904), a hero of both British and American, is known to the world for his expedition to Africa's 700 miles Congo River in March，1871. In his own diary, one day, he noted that he lost 60 lbs, 3 months after expedition. That day, he noted that he weighed only 110 lbs. Another day, he noted that he was shivering all day because of malaria while the temperature outside was 130 F. Many of his people (porters) deserted, while many others died. The expedition team was short of food, afflicted with tropical disease, and threatened every day with hostile cannibalistic tribes along the shore of the Congo River, chanting 'Nioma, Nioma (Meat, Meat)'. None of the Europeans that went along with the expedition died except him.
Even with such hardship, how did he survive? He recalled his experiences to a journalist interviewing him. He said, every morning when the sky breaks, he realized he was still breathing, he was still alive. As long as he was alive, he would live to the best of the day. In the morning, he would shave, put on best and clean cloth. In the night before he retired, he would write his expedition journal.
The moral of the story is that whether we are facing life-threatening challenge or not, as long as we are still breathing or alive for the day, we shall live to our best of the day; for men, shaving and putting on clean and good clothes to look good; for women, make up and putting on nice dress to look good. Even faking has positive impacts on overall well beings.
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