Whenever we can extract valuable life and work lessons from non-business sources—especially those that are life threatening—the lessons in developing strength, enduring difficulties, triumphing over adversity and surviving challenges are more powerful and effective; the Chilean miners comes to mind as a recent source of inspiration, courage and perseverance in the face of the seemingly impossible.
While the miners and their rescuers teach us many lessons about teamwork, another extraordinary example, soon to gain wider spread exposure due to the release of a new movie, is of an individual finding his own deep inner strength and courage, ability to endure and desire to survive in an extreme situation.
Aron Ralston is one of life’s true survivors. When faced with his own torturous, impending death, Ralston made a choice. Despite the pain, he chose to endure the unimaginable in order to survive. And because of that decision, he lived to tell his story. In 2003, deep in an isolated and narrow Utah canyon, all alone with his hand trapped by an 800 pound fallen rock, the outdoor adventurer endured for 127 hours before finding the inspiration and courage to save himself by first breaking his own arm bone, amputating his forearm with a small pocketknife, and then climbing out of the canyon and hiking 8 miles until rescued.
Aron made huge mistakes—going off alone, not telling anyone of his plans and taking a huge risk descending the narrow canyon walls—leading to a painful and regretful plight. Yet, as distressing as his situation and solution were, there are many lessons to be learned from the outcome.
Aron learned, and writes in his book, about not letting fear and panic interfere with decision making; not letting those reactions to situations skew decisions for the worse. “Instead,” writes Aron, “no matter the severity of the situation, it is necessary to maintain a calm and rational thought processes, all the more so when the consequences are greatest.
“Fear and panic are always the overriding thoughts and emotional responses when your life is on the line, and it is something I have learned to respect, avoid, and manage. When fear and panic rear up, the most vital response is to take action and implement strategies to manage the situation in a calm and deliberate manner. This is the major similarity between the close calls I have had: I was successful in moving through the paralyzing effects of panic to take action for the better.
“When my life was on the line I was able to make the right decisions at the right time and maximize the resources available at that time.
“I hope people will understand from my story that we each have it within ourselves, through courage, faith, and perseverance, to turn adversity into possibility.”
Ultimately, survival in any adverse situation depends on how strong is the individual’s determination to endure and see it through. The instinct to overcome adversity is within us all. It is often hidden—even from ourselves—from a lack of truly extreme situations in our lives.
The question is, with role models such as Aron and the Chilean miners, are you the sort of person who, when it mattered, can just do whatever it takes to endure extreme difficulties and survive extraordinary situations. Learning that you can survive no matter what the situation can end up being the greatest lesson in learning how to live. As Aron has said: “It’s not about what you do; it’s about who you are.”
What did Aron do when caught between a rock and a hard place? He dug deep to find the strength to last a little longer, to make decisions that would lead to better days, and to understand that the struggle was worth it. In enduring, Aron discovered that it wasn't just himself, that one of the main things that gave him the strength to get out was his connection to the outside world. It was a chance, Aron has said, “to examine what is life about. And for me, it was about relationships, how they sustained me while I was there, how they motivated me to get out of there, and how they built me back.” No one knows what is in him till he tries.
“I could not have survived without the lessons learned from other experiences,” Aron has related: “The saying goes, ‘Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.’”
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