One Moment Longer
By James
When I was a kid, I read a story called “ONE MINUTE LONGER” by Albert Payson Terhune. It’s a great short story — you can read it here.
It’s a classic outdoor survival story about a boy who falls through the ice one winter night and gets stuck in the freezing mud beneath the ice. Unable to free himself, he must rely on his loyal dog — Wolf. Wolf goes to get help, and the boy has to survive in the frigid water, waiting and hoping that Wolf will return with help.
He has this moment of realization and determination.
“Heroism consists of holding on one minute longer.” Unable to move and free himself, the boy realizes his only path to victory is waiting and hoping. He can’t give up — because any minute his dog might re-appear, leading a crowd of helpers and the next minute, he’ll be rescued, warmed, and safe.
So he waits, and he holds on, and he hopes. You can read the rest of the short, 9-page story yourself to find out what happens next.
The Power of Holding On
When things are going badly, we want change. We NEED change. We need the pain to stop, or we need something good to start happening.
The problem is, change usually isn’t immediate. It can take time. It might be delayed. It might be gradual.
When the change we desperately need isn’t coming, we have a secret weapon:
Holding on. Waiting. Hoping.
We don’t want this moment — this crisis, conflict, abuse, danger, or shitty situation to define us. We want to survive to see the change — to see things work out, to see justice, to improve our situation, get to a better place, and get the life we want.
So hold on.
The Power of “One Moment Longer.”
But it can be really hard to hold on.
Imagine holding a heavy weight. After a few seconds or minutes (depending on how strong you are and how heavy it is), your muscles begin to fatigue. It becomes painful. You start to feel a burn in your arms. The burn grows to muscular exhaustion. Soon, you want nothing more than to let the weight drop to the floor.
It’s the same thing when you’re holding an emotional weight — thoughts, memories, situations, or decisions that weigh on your mind like a 45 pound dumbbell.
If you are holding a physical weight or an emotional weight for longer than you’d like, a great strategy is to tell yourself you’re just going to hold it for one moment longer. That’s easy, right? Just one more second.
You easily achieve this goal. Then, challenge yourself to hold on for one more second after that.
Then, another second.
Then another.
Moment by moment, you hold on. You’re not worrying about the future, or thinking about what comes next. You’re surviving. You’re making it.
Procrastinate on Giving Up
You can give up later. You can give up tomorrow. But today — right now, you’re going to hold on.
Sometimes, procrastination is a bad thing. Right now, it’s a superpower. Use it to keep holding on.
Become Your Own Hero
According to the Norse proverb in our story, being a hero is really simple (Note: NOT easy. But simple). A hero is the person who holds on when others would give up.
We see this so many times in movies about heroes. You can probably think of many examples — that climactic scene when the hero won’t quit, gets back up, keeps fighting, hoping, and waiting. here’s a few of my favorites:
In all these scenes, the protagonists had a chance to give up. But they didn’t. They held on. Holding on turned them into heroes.
You probably aren’t in a situation where you are holding on against an army of orcs or aliens or supervillains (I know, too bad, right?).
Instead, you find yourself faced with an unbelievable onslaught of pain, depression, despair, and thoughts that just won’t stop.
Hold on for one minute longer.
Change will come. Wait for it. Hope for it.
And, if you feel like you’re losing your grip, we are here to help you hold on. Text “D2l” to “91627 and ask a live hope coach for help holding on — one minute longer.
Hang in there, hero!