Well past twilight, the rain gave the streets a glisten. I waited at the stop, looking north, and noticed I didn't need to shield my eyes from the rain. I didn't even have to blink repeatedly to combat their high speed divebombs on my face.

It was less than a minute later that I saw the MAX train come down. Nearly a hundred feet long and only four sets of doors on the whole train, and my gaze, unmoving, found itself smack dab in the middle of the opening doors. It was that kind of a night. I walked right in.

I slouched down in my seat. The good kind of slouch. The one you do after a long day's work, after you've moved mountains, built castles, challenged yourself and emerged victorious through the fire.

This train full of strangers was now my living room.

"I am overcome by a sense of happiness and fulfillment," I gchatted Ash.

"I did my presentation today at the branch, prepping them with all the things we have going on. I delivered a massive amount of marketing materials to them, the culmination of a project that's been 2 months in the making. Pieces I created, got approved, produced and laminated myself. Pieces I went through 10 proofs on working with our designer and team to get them just right. Pieces my teammates have put together for me to deliver."

"wow! thats fantastic!!" she gchatted me.

(No, I won't call it "Hangouts," so you can save it Larry Page!)

"The successful completion of a large scale project that required a lot of sweat equity," I basked.

"has to feel ricken fastastic

wow, so done done now?

you can exhale?"

...

Can one ever truly exhale?

I don't know that I can, so much as I will. There's a distinction.

...

"But I can't describe to you how good this feeling is right now

For what it means for the future, for what it means for the present

I legit haven't had this specific feeling in a long time

"It returns today like an old friend, who I haven't seen in years but when we're reunited it's like we never left

"Knowing that I was the lead on this project. I managed 10+ people in various roles, I communicated often and well, I collaborated with my teammates, I created and met timelines, I challenged myself and I met that challenge, over a long term project, and a project that is crucial to our company," I luxuriated.

Will I exhale? Yes. And I will greet tomorrow with even greater confidence. True confidence, born of past challenges successfully navigated. A benchmark that you have gone somewhere you had never before, and you are all the more prepared to go further.

"If you want - this is my conclusion at least - if you want to love people fully, if you want to share your gifts with the world, you cannot do it if you just tolerate yourself. You cannot do it if you don't love yourself. Sounds like an indulgence - it did to me for a long time - it's not. It's not a nice to have, it's a must have."

-Tim Ferriss, taken from his interview with Terry Crews posted in late 2017