Our lives shrink or grow depending on our courage“Why’d you do it?” they asked a rescue worker in New York yesterday, the camera zooming in for a close-up on
his arm where he’d printed his name and phone number with a black permanent marker. “Because,” he said, deadly serious, “if something happens to me while I’m down there lookin’ for bodies, they’ll need to know who I was.” Was. Frozen to the screen, I watched him and remembered: our lives shrink or grow depending on our courage. Three ordinary guys on the plane that crashed in a field outside Pittsburgh. The plane, they say, that was headed for the White House. Three
ordinary guys, knowing they were going to die, who decided to fight back, to charge the terrorists, to do all they could...so others might live. And as I thought about them, wondering what I’d have done, I remembered: our lives shrink or grow depending on our courage. A terrified 3-year old girl, separated from the woman taking care of her, standing alone on a sidewalk across from the World Trade Center, screaming people running everywhere, giant chunks of steel and concrete
raining... and suddenly she’s swept up and carried to safety in the arms of an ordinary person who had the courage to stop in the middle of hell...and help. And I remembered again...our lives shrink or grow depending on our courage. Billions watching as thousands of us die horrible deaths in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania. We’re utterly devastated and swear “things are going to be different now!” Swear we’ll finally quit living berserk, out of control lives. Swear
we’ll take better care of ourselves and others. That we’ll love more. Because we’ve seen death... watched it happen... ...but will we have the courage? Or will we do what we’ve always done, as the horrific pictures on our TV screens are replaced with the non-stop drivel, hype, and endless stupidity...and go back to sleep ...and forget...one more time...that life’s short. Or will we choose to be like these ordinary people who did extraordinary things...and have the
courage to do what we need to do to live...now. © Pat Lynch, 2001. All rights reserved. Please feel free to forward this on. Out of the Box is a free weekly e-mail newsletter created to help you find more effective ways to release your potential and get the life you’ve always wanted. New subscribers are welcome, and there is no charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail to: join-outofthebox@potential.com.
To unsubscribe, e-mail: leave-outofthebox@potential.com. Reproduction for publication is approved, provided the copyright information is included along with the following attribution: From “Out of the Box”, a weekly newsletter by Pat Lynch. (602) 689-7904 or patlynch@potential.com.
Got a story or experience that you think would be helpful to others in getting out of the box? Please send it to me at patlynch@potential.com. Contact information:
Patrick Lynch
Potential Management
4839 E. Greenway Rd., Suite 370
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Phone: (602) 689-7904
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