Proof of the Power of Positive Thinking?

There’s a facebook post going around that shows two photos: one of soldiers from WWII, and the other of Occupy Wall Street protestors.  The caption is something about how 20 yr olds in 1944 gave everything while 20 yr olds in 2011 want everything. It stood out to me because I just read a book about a WWII soldier and the nature of survival. I don’t care much about the Occupy Wall Street movement, because I don't understand what they want, and I don't think they do either, but I wonder if the perseverance of the protesters isn’t due so much to their dedication to the cause, as to the euphoria of hanging out together.  There’s a lot you can withstand when someone else is going through it with you.

Hence, I attend book clubs.  I like hanging out.  Usually the talk at the officer spouses’ club book group centers around upcoming events, the pros and cons of different duty stations, comparing lists of who knows whom, etc.  We might talk briefly about the book, especially if there’s a movie version.  But book talk usually expires quickly. Either people don’t read the book, or they share the same opinions of it or are afraid to voice a contrarian position.

Surprisingly, the talk at the first meeting of the book club here really stayed on topic – even despite the fact that there was delicious food to yum over.  Nearly everyone read the book, which also helped.

The book indirectly talks about the importance of camaderie for survival. It was Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, the story of World War II survivor Louis Zamperini. The Wall Street Journal had run a big review when it was came out, but the review focused on the contrast between the author’s Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and her subject’s indefatiguable spirit.  Louis Zamperini is now an active 94, which is pretty incredible, considering what he withstood as a 20something.

I don’t usually pick up historical biographies, so I don’t know how this book compares to others, but it provides great fodder for conversation.  Is that because of Hillenbrand’s writing or Zamperini’s life? He did lead an incredible life, and he survived horrendous suffering during WWII.  But I’m sure there are other lives just as miraculous – in fact Hillenbrand notes several unpublished memoirs sent to her by other soldiers which she consulted for details about the Japanese prisoner of war camps and about the Army Air Force of which Zamperini was a member, as well as other information about experiences of war. Their stories are probably just as interesting.

Part of what we found interesting in discussion about Zamperini was his change from a rebellious teen to Olympic runner to airplane bombardier to prisoner of war, then alcoholic and, finally, convert.  He went from hopelessness to glory, back to hopelessness and to, hopefully, final glory.  Growing up in depression era Southern California, he stole and fought and ran around like a hooligan. Wait, he was a hooligan. His brother finally talked him into running track, which he did first to attract girls and then because he was good.  His training for the Olympics was amazingly brief, proof of his natural talent. He qualified for the 1936 Olympics in his third 5000m race, even though he was a miler at heart.  A favorite scene for me was when the Notre Dame coach came to Zamperini to wish him good luck. Six(ty) degrees of separation?  

When Pearl Harbor was bombed he joined the air corps, and survived several missions, before the plane he was on went down while on a rescue mission.  Miraculously, he and two other men survived the crash and then lived for 47 days in the life raft, without any stores of food or water. Think Life of Pi, which I thought incredible, until reading this.  One of the men dies, the one who was new to the plane crew, but Zamp and his best friend Phil keep each other alive, even battling sharks and fire from a Japanese plane.

They finally are rescued by the Japanese and taken to a war camp. Although they initially are nursed to semi-health, their POW experience goes from bad to worse.  The pictures in the book add to the drama.  Here are all these handsome young men who died.  The few POWs who survive the torture and deprivation narrowly escape annihilation when the war ends.

So the question debated was how did they survive?  Did Louis Zamperini have special physical and mental gifts that enabled him to overcome the suffering and setbacks he experienced, or did he channel an inherent ability to survive and remain positive that everyone possesses, although many people don’t use it?

One of the wives, who has overcome a snake phobia and taken up triathlons after being a lifelong coach potato was convinced that will power was the answer. And she believes that everyone could do more for themselves just by making up their minds to do it.

It’s an interesting question.  I wanted to agree with her. And I do, sort of.  People DON’t exercise their wills – or their bodies – nearly as much as they should or can.  I definitely agree that most people give up much too easily, not on life per se, but on exercise programs, reading, name your self-improvement program. I know I’m guilty of making resolution after resolution that I don’t follow through on just because I’m lazy and selfish. (Heck, I felt like I was going to expire from endless waiting at the DMV the other day. Torture!)

But I’ve also seen that it’s possible to decide to do something and do it, even though you think you may not be able to. Running a marathon for instance, or even just running a 5K.  Running a mile for some people. A person of average health should be able to will themselves to run a mile.

There are a lot of things that sound overwhelming, but can be accomplished simply by doing and not overthinking.  Learning a language. Moving is another one. Traveling with kids.  Cooking dinner.  Fixing a toilet flusher.  Waiting in line.

The lady who had the irrational phobia of snakes wasn't even able to go outside in snake season, from the time she was little. When she found out she was coming to Guam, she had to make herself look at snakes so that she wouldn’t be afraid to go outside. She went to see a therapist, but he wanted to talk about dreams, so she made up her own program to gradually get used to looking at snakes, including watching a snake show on tv, which she wasn’t able to do before, and buying a toy snake.

I tend to be skeptic about therapists.  Could people who are depressed cure themselves by getting outside and doing some hard labor, so they stop thinking about how bad life is?  Someone mentioned that the new thing is to tell returning soldiers that they shouldn’t accept a diagnosis of PTSD as a label because then they will allow themselves to use it as a crutch or an excuse to avoid change and responsibility. Could the same be said of some people who are diagnosed with depression, or, as Laura Hillenbrand was, with chronic fatigue symptom, or other disorders that are difficult to pinpoint physically?

Even though I agree to an extent with the lady who thought people hold the power of change in their mind, I tend to think that that there are people who are just wired differently.  The guy who dies in the boat when Zamp and Phil survive may have been one of them. Maybe he let himself die because he felt guilty about eating the one chocolate bar they possessed, or because he didn’t share the connection that the other two had. Maybe his will was weak, but maybe he just didn’t have a temperament that allowed him to stay focused on living.

Of course, men of all types of personalities survived the POW camps, despite sickness, beatings and deprivation.  Did Louis have an even stronger constitution to withstand the extra beatings he receives because he was an Olympic runner, or did he simply will himself to stay alive?

Can someone train themselves to be more positive? Can someone change their temperament through will and practice? 

The example that came up was the Navy wife who never is happy where she is stationed, versus those who make the best of it, who make friends and explore. In a way this is a question of survival.  If you don’t have a choice to pick up and move across the country or across the world, you do have a choice whether to enjoy it, or to be miserable thinking that everything is better somewhere else.

I like to pride myself on my endurance and tolerance for pain.  I can run and run and run. I can drag children across the world.  I can push six kids through a tiny hole into the world without pain killers and drag them in and out of ER’s and temper tantrums.  But could I survive the privations that Louis undergoes? Could I beat back sharks and catch and kill an albatross and eat it raw?  Could I stand up under repeating beatings and punishments while suffering from dysentery and starvation?  Then overcome alcoholism and flashbacks in a single conversion moment? Is that a miracle? Was Louis Zamperini given extra gifts from God, or was he just good at using the gifts God gave him?