As I was preparing for bed just after midnight on Thursday, I felt it swooping in on me like a freak Texas thunderstorm: the strongest case of the flu in years, since leaving the Pacific, was selecting me as its next “ground zero.”
Having dealt with some similarly formidable opponents throughout life’s 37 years, I knew I needed to summon my “A” game at light speed–to keep from being sucked into the abyss.
Step 1: A strong mind. Just as I tell people that the Walk is 99% mental, my greatest asset in the face of illness is a strong, focused, determined mind. Sadly, I’m convinced that the only reason I was succumbing to this mega-flu in the first place was due to the fact that I’d allowed myself to be derailed into an unfriendly, negative track of thoughts in previous days– an inimical psychological construct which left me wide open to being tackled by this flu. Over the years, I’ve found that when I maintain the stronger mindset, I feel colds and flues coming on and they don’t stand a chance– a light brush of symptoms over no more than a couple of days and they’re gone.
This time around, this mega-flu was thundering down fast and with full force, and understanding that swift, immediate intervention would by far be the best road to the softest impact and the quickest removal of malady, I didn’t hesitate to use 100% of the tools on me.
To further fortify the strong state of mind, I grabbed Kayla’s letter and opened it. Kayla Hoomes is a high school student from Brewton, Alabama– a student whom I’ve never actually met, but who heard of the Walk through friends, and has been one of the greatest, light-filled supporters to me across the miles.  Many times Kayla has offered to send a care package, but aside from “good vibes,” I’ve haven’t thought of anything else she could send. I’ve promised to include Kayla on my postcard list, yet the sad fact that I’ve only seen racks of $1 postcards since Brewton quickly threw a monkey wrench into my nascent state-by-state habit of sending postcards to whomever requested one (a list well over 100 strong– I’d love to add your name, if you’d like to ultimately receive a postcard from me as well– next time they’re affordable to me).  Still, none of this stopped Kayla’s bright soul from sending me a letter first. Kayla received an up-the-road South Carolina address, and her light-filled letter awaited my arrival in Powdersville, SC. I could tell her letter was special, so I decided to save it for a rainy day– if one ever should come. I carried Kayla’s letter in my front pocket for hundreds of miles– not knowing if I’d ever feel the dark hour to open and read it or not. The dark hour had arrived though, so I opened up Kayla’s letter and read it. Over three printed pages, Kayla wrote of the challenges and joys of her life. She wrote of inspiration, and she closed with some strong, inspirational and empowering words to me. Kayla’s fraternal, universal love flowed strongly, and helped guide my soul to it’s best possible position before I lay down for that night’s rest.