What’s your spin? What’s your story?

According to Martha Beck, in “Finding Your Own North Star, 

“You’re inevitably going to “spin” the story of your life, so you might as well spin it in a cheerful direction…tell yourself a lie story in which you, the hero, are primarily a problem solver rather than a helpless victim.

Neither story is the absolute truth; all our life narratives are based on selection and “spin.”

I just came back from France where I competed on the US Wine Tasting Team in the World Wine Tasting Championship held at Chateau Chambord, one of the world’s most impressive castles, located in Loire, France.

Organized and sponsored in part by La Revue du vin de France, the challenge was to taste and identify six white wines and six red wines. We received points if we could identify what kind of grape was in the wine, where it came from in the world and which region in the country,  who made it, and in what year.

The US Wine Tasting Team: Californians Gwendolyn Alley and Sue Hill, and Texans Jacob Fergus and Taylor Robertson.

By winning a place on the team, we won a free trip to France and accommodations and meals at the Chateau as well as a tour hosted by Wine Acuity. Read more about the competition here and how we won. Sue and I arrived a week before the competition and we stayed in Paris for two nights after while other teammates arrived later and stayed later. Read more about our adventures in the vineyards, cellars and with producers in Champagne for four nights and threes days and in the Loire for four nights and four days here; we met with and interviewed over 10 biodynamic winemakers in one week!

Now every one wants to know how well we did in the contest. 

One spin would be that we did terribly, horribly, and to focus on why. To focus on the cheating of one team in particular who got in trouble for cheating before. 

Another spin would be to focus on the positive– what we got out of the experience. 

Our team was called up early, which meant a low score. Disappointed but not surprised, we went to the front to accept our prizes. Our team captain made a few statements, then I grabbed the mic and this is what I had to say more or less:

“We may have placed near the bottom, but we’re already winners, we already won. We won just by being here in this beautiful place with all of you. And you’re all winners too — winners of your own country. We are all winners to be here. Thank you!”

It was great to hear the applause from the more than 100 competitors and others who were there– but it felt great to share that message with everyone.

To put a cheerful spin on it.

waiting for the results, we took a few team photos…

Here’s my question for you today: are you a winner or a loser? 

Here’s my answer: every day that we show up and do our best to learn and grow and make the world a better place we’re winning. 

It’s up to you to select what spin you put on your own story — and it is up to you to figure out what sort of spin you want to take on the stories of others.

Why not spin it in a positive, cheerful direction? Why not make the story one of being a problem solver and a hero?

There’s many more stories to spin about our trip, but most of those will be spun over at Wine Predator. So head over there and subscribe if you’re over 21!

a rainbow during a rainy sunset in Montreal-Bellay, Loire France — just to the right of the house we could see the castle which was a 10 minute walk from our Air B N B

Oh and who won first place? FRANCE! I’ll post more about the results over on Wine Predator ASAP.

The inspiring quote and artwork above comes from Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo “one of the only westerners trained in the rare Buddhist art of silk applique thangkas… His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave his blessings to Leslie’s work and encouraged her to make images that speak to the spiritual aspirations of people across religions and cultures.”

Leslie’s work “is the subject of the acclaimed documentary film, Creating Buddhas: the Making and Meaning of Fabric Thangkas. Leslie mentors a select group of students around the world through her Stitching Buddhas Virtual Apprentice Program, and her Weekly Wake-ups provide a thread of inspiration to set your week on the path to awakening.”

PS Happy Birthday to my spouse! He’s another year older today!