Don't YOU DARE SETTLE
"Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something." - Ashton Kutcher
What is the situation you are in now? How hard is it for you? I have just one word for you: DON’T YOU DARE SETTLE.
Don't settle for less; don't settle for your bad situation; don't settle to be an average person. With determination and perseverance, you get out of your situation.
In February 2003, Aron Ralston, an experienced and enthusiastic outdoorsman, narrowly escaped death when caught in a fierce avalanche. In a very short time, the avalanche covered Ralston up to his neck and completely buried his skiing companion. With his considerable skill and strength, Ralston freed himself and his friend and got them both to safety.
But Ralston’s alpine rescue was not his only heroic act that year.
Three months later, while hiking alone through Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, Ralston faced another life-and-death situation, one that required him to make a desperate decision and take drastic measures to stay alive.
Ralston found himself at the bottom of a hole, one hundred feet beneath the surface of the desert, miles away from a paved road, with his arm pinned to a rock wall by an eight-hundred-pound boulder. No matter how hard he tried, the boulder would not budge. Soon, the crushing pain in his hand and arm gave way to the sensation of feeling nothing at all—not a good sign.
As Ralston thought about what to do, he realised he had broken an important hiker’s rule: always tell someone where you are going. No one knew where he was; no one was expecting him to return from his hiking trip for several days. By the time anyone missed him, they would not know where to search for him. By the time anyone found him, he would probably be dead. He was in such a hidden place in such a remote desert that his body might never be found.
Five days after he had been trapped, thinking death was imminent, Ralston managed to use his video camera to record messages he hoped someone would find if he did not survive. To help those who would recover his body identify him, he used his pocketknife to etch his name, the month and year of his birth, October ’75; April ’03, the month of his hiking trip; and “RIP,” into the rock where he was stuck.
Ralston then proceeded to do the only thing he knew to do to save his life. He used his pocket knife to amputate his arm so he could be free from the boulder. Amazingly, he then applied a tourniquet and gave himself basic first aid before he managed to rappel sixty-five feet and hike seven miles out of the canyon. He was nearing the place he had parked his truck, but had to climb eight hundred feet, straight up, to reach it. Bleeding, dehydrated, and almost in shock, Ralston pushed himself to reach his vehicle.
As he neared it, he saw rescue teams convening to begin searching for him.
He first received treatment at the nearest hospital and was then transferred to another facility for surgery on the remaining portion of his arm.
I hope you will never find yourself in circumstances as drastic as Aron’s, but I hope you will develop the courage, resourcefulness, and commitment to life he demonstrated when faced with a seemingly impossible situation.
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