Week 82 - Mental and Physical Leverage

Dearest Friends and Family,

Elder Aquino has started asking me quite frequently: “Hey Elder Ericksen, me puede ayudar subir unas cajitas?” Part of his responsibility is ordering the Books of Mormon we give to people interested in our message. The books come in heavy 18kg boxes containing 36 books each. These weighty boxes are delivered to our bodega in the basement of the building where the mission office is and we have to load them, 10 at a time on a dolly, up to the 5th floor for storage. His requests for help remind me that since Elder Ross has essentially taken over my finance clerk responsibilities, I have become nothing more than a body here in the office. I’m joking!

Though it may sound like it, I’m not complaining! On Wednesday, we went to the distribution center basement to retrieve our 40 boxes, and I can’t say that it did not help with my exercise goals. Hah. There are 4 obstacles in bringing the boxes from the basement to the 5^th floor: 1. the initial ‘umph’ it requires to tilt back the dolly (180 kg) so that it rolls; 2. pulling the boxes up a 15-meter ramp to exit the basement and enter the building through the parking lot; 3. boarding and exiting the building elevator to go to the 5th floor and; 4. the last umph and careful bracing required to set the dolly down without letting it crash too hard on the ground. Reflecting on this exercise has helped me to see and learn something about physical leverage and mental leverage when taking on a problem.

1. The initial umph… the dolly of boxes is super heavy! Tilting it back requires me to lean back with all of my weight to get it to roll. In life, many problems or challenges come when we’re least expecting them, and they leave us stunned and even a little disheveled in the moment. They can feel instantly heavy and a lot bigger than us. What do you have to do? Decide right away that you are going to get the problem rolling toward a better location and lean back, away from it’s weight, with all your might. Decide to change your attitude. Smile! Recognize that anything thrown your way is conquerable. Seek immediate relief through something productive. Serve someone you love.

2. The 15-meter ramp… getting the dolly rolling doesn’t mean the boxes are where they need to be. I roll it a little and then reposition to take on the ramp. The first 5 meters are easy, the middle 5 a little tougher, and the last 5 almost impossible. It’s interesting how when the dolly tilts back on its wheels, its lighter in my hands, but I arrive at the ramp it goes right back to being just as heavy as it was before it was tilted, if not heavier! The same often happens with our challenges…you get them rolling along and then, boom, you arrive at a ramp. For me, the trick to conquering the ramp is: 1. knowing that the ground will go back to being flat as soon as I crest (perseverance) and 2. not being afraid to ask for help after you have lifted as much as you can alone. (Elder Aquino often has to push as I pull up the ramp.) Be humble enough to involve others. Receiving a little push in the right direction from a friend is never a bad thing if you accept it with humility.

3. The elevator… the dolly is precisely 4 inches skinnier than the opened door of the elevator. Considering the weight, fine maneuvering is not easy, especially with the added pressure of an aggressively closing elevator door. The key here is lining up everything just right (planning) and going right for it, with haste. And this is exactly what we need to do when an opportunity arises that can help us solution a problem. Just as the elevator lifts me, and the boxes, to exactly where we need to be, there are always opportunities that can help alleviate or solution a problem. This could be taking action to forgive or to ask for forgiveness. It could be an opportunity to move to take control of things. It could be looking at the situation differently, from a different perspective. It could mean trying different things to get a different result. It could be accepting some game-changing advice. I wouldn’t be able to carry the dolly up to the 5th floor alone…the opportunity of the elevator is completely necessary.

4. Bracing for the release… once the dolly has arrived at the 5th floor, it requires a great deal of strength to let the dolly down without banging it on the floor. I must bend my knees, extend my arms and lean back with all the leverage I can muster. In that same way, once a problem is resolved, you have to continue to brace, to let things go, and move on with a perfect brightness of hope.

Just a few thoughts this week about using leverage, tools, and the assistance from others to solve a major challenge. I love you, family. I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and enjoying each new day a little more than the last.

Elder Ericksen

PS - In two weeks I’m leaving the office…I’m interested in your guesses about which zone I’ll end up in! Your choices are: Esmeraldas (the coast), Quito, Ofelia, Calderon, Otavalo, Imbabura, Imbaya, Ipiales (Colombia), or Oriente (the jungle). Let me know!