by David McNally
One crisp autumn afternoon, a husband and wife decided to go for a drive. It was a magnificent day, the sun was shining, the air clean and fresh, and winter seemed weeks away. As the couple drove along the country roads that surrounded their home, they marveled at the splash of stunning colors on both sided of the road: brilliant oranges and reds, deep maroons, and rich golds.
Suddenly, with no warning, two leather-jacketed motorcyclists came barreling out from a quiet and almost hidden lane. The bikers, after barely missing the couple's car, were gone in a flash. Shocked and shaken, the man pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. It seemed only seconds, however, before and explosion in the distance startled them even more.
The man immediately spun the car around in the direction from which the sound came. They drove just a few hundred feet before seeing what had happened; The cyclist had crashed through a guardrail, and dropped down the hillside, with one of the bikes exploding on impact. The man moved to climb down the hillside when his wife quickly grabbed his arm and said;
"What are you doing?"
"I've got to go down there and see if anyone else needs help," he said.
"Wait a minute!" his wife cautioned. "It might not be safe. How do you know there won't be another explosion?"
The man stopped as thoughts raced through his mind. What should he do? Unwittingly he was being confronted with one of those moments that can define a life. He didn't ask for it, didn't desire it, yet there it was staring him straight in the face. Whatever he decided could have a dramatic impact on his own life, his family's, and any possible survivors down below.
He stepped over the twisted guardrail and carefully and cautiously climbed down the steep embankment. He found the bikers still alive. Suddenly remembering his cellular phone, he scrambled back to his car, called an ambulance, and soon two lucky young men were rushed to a hospital. Did the man make the "right" decision? Perhaps. The bikers fully recovered. Then again, his wife's concern was justified. If the other bike had exploded, all three might have been killed. Like many of the most important decisions in our lives, the answer is rarely obvious.
To live is to make choices continually that shape the very essence of who we are. Every day is filled with defining moments, opportunities for our courage to be demonstrated and our characters to be built. Taking a responsibility for themselves and their role in the world is, unquestionable, a key characteristic of thrivers.
One crisp autumn afternoon, a husband and wife decided to go for a drive. It was a magnificent day, the sun was shining, the air clean and fresh, and winter seemed weeks away. As the couple drove along the country roads that surrounded their home, they marveled at the splash of stunning colors on both sided of the road: brilliant oranges and reds, deep maroons, and rich golds.
Suddenly, with no warning, two leather-jacketed motorcyclists came barreling out from a quiet and almost hidden lane. The bikers, after barely missing the couple's car, were gone in a flash. Shocked and shaken, the man pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. It seemed only seconds, however, before and explosion in the distance startled them even more.
The man immediately spun the car around in the direction from which the sound came. They drove just a few hundred feet before seeing what had happened; The cyclist had crashed through a guardrail, and dropped down the hillside, with one of the bikes exploding on impact. The man moved to climb down the hillside when his wife quickly grabbed his arm and said;
"What are you doing?"
"I've got to go down there and see if anyone else needs help," he said.
"Wait a minute!" his wife cautioned. "It might not be safe. How do you know there won't be another explosion?"
The man stopped as thoughts raced through his mind. What should he do? Unwittingly he was being confronted with one of those moments that can define a life. He didn't ask for it, didn't desire it, yet there it was staring him straight in the face. Whatever he decided could have a dramatic impact on his own life, his family's, and any possible survivors down below.
He stepped over the twisted guardrail and carefully and cautiously climbed down the steep embankment. He found the bikers still alive. Suddenly remembering his cellular phone, he scrambled back to his car, called an ambulance, and soon two lucky young men were rushed to a hospital. Did the man make the "right" decision? Perhaps. The bikers fully recovered. Then again, his wife's concern was justified. If the other bike had exploded, all three might have been killed. Like many of the most important decisions in our lives, the answer is rarely obvious.
To live is to make choices continually that shape the very essence of who we are. Every day is filled with defining moments, opportunities for our courage to be demonstrated and our characters to be built. Taking a responsibility for themselves and their role in the world is, unquestionable, a key characteristic of thrivers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment