Sunday, June 10, 2007

Lessons learned

I almost forgot to mention a saying that Geoff told me that profoundly affected me. It is:

"Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man."

When he said it, is was in reference to the drastic circumstances that were associtated with World War II, and how Winston Churchill led the UK through it. When hard times came, somebody stood up and took charge of the situation.

This concept is one that has fascinated me for a long time. The question is, why do some cower in the face of danger, while others rise to the occasion? It sounds melodramatic, but I don't mean it that way. For example, an elderly woman is lugging a suitcase up a long flight of stairs. Everybody sees her struggling. Why not help? Of course, if you are unable to give assistance, thats fine, but if you are capable, whats stopping you?

So often we (myself included) tend to enter autopilot in our lives, dismissing outside stimuli and focusing on nothing in particular. Walking along the street, I am thinking about my destination and not what is two feet in front of me. I think thats the reason why people freeze during dangerous situations. Snapping out of autopilot is tough!

A few years ago, Dan, Paul and myself made a promise to each other never to sit idly during an emergency. If something goes down, become active, no matter how small the situation. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Take a minute and really think about it.

Cheers,
Matt

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just caught up on your travels and it sounds like you are having a fabulous time! I'm so glad to hear about your adventures. =) Can't wait for you to post more. The States miss you!

Anonymous said...

That's deep!

Anonymous said...

hey, its steve(pennie's son) sounds like you're having an awesome time, gotta be an amazing experience, always wanted to do something like that, enjoy.