I recently went to my first outdoor music festival of the 2025 season. Thankfully, my wife enjoys adversity as much as I do during these events. How do we genuinely reach this attitude? We both enjoy live music, particularly outdoors. Most of the time, we take on the challenge of poor weather conditions with an elbows-up attitude. It’s all part of the adventure of life.

We also recognize that we are fortunate to see the world this way. As an aside, we found out at the end of the weekend festival that the United States had bombed Iran. For many in the world, life is not fun and games but one of daily survival with no end in sight.

Now, back to my primary focus.

The closing act on Saturday was a west-coast band, 54-40, from Tsawwassen, British Columbia. Their first gig was in 1980, and their first big hit was “One Day in Your Life.”

Skipping through the drudgery of life as musicians, they had several record contracts in the States but never made it to the mainstream.  Hootie and the Blowfish covered one of their songs, which was used on the first episode of ‘Friends.’ The royalties from the Hootie and the Blowfish cover enabled the band to build their recording studio in Vancouver.

In the late 1990s, they had one album, Go Gold, and three platinum albums in Canada.

Before the opening of the recent show, some called out and asked what the band’s name meant. The lead pointed to another band member and said, “Ask him; it was his idea.”

No response. My wife was quicker than I and provided the answer.

54-40 refers to the 50 parallel and 40 minutes. The full expression was 54-40 or fight.

President Polk of the United States in the late 1840s was noted for expanding the territory of the United States. He fought with Mexico during his reign and named the newly acquired land Texas.

Then he set his sights on the disputed Oregon Territory. The ‘54-40 or fight the British’ slogan was the battle cry to move the border north to 54 degrees, 40 minutes north. Eventually, it was agreed to use the 49^th parallel as their northern border. The slogan went to the trash heap of unsuccessful battle cries.

Anything ringing a bell here? Does ‘Elbows-Up’ have a greater chance of success?

Please give this a bit of a think. What slogans do you keep at the ready to help you stay calm and forge ahead through adversity? I’ll give a few hints on some of mine.

1. I only need one
   I first started using this one when approaching a large commuter parking lot that looked full with about 1,000 vehicles. “I only need one space.” It switched my mind from frustrating and negative thinking to solution-focused. Where would the most likely place be for my one spot?  I drove to the farthest area of the lot from the subway gate. There was my spot, waiting for me!
   
2. It’s a first-world problem’
   I use this one to put my life in perspective. I have a home to go to, with a full fridge. I’m warm and fed. Most of the rest of my life is a series of minor issues that pale in comparison to the concerns of many people in the world.

I am curious about your thoughts. Please comment below or send me an email with your bit of a think.

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glenn.walmsley@icloud.com