Personal Development
Death Zone Decision
Corpses dot the landscape. The temperature hovers below zero. Sudden blizzards cause white outs. The atmosphere is oxygen starved. If you find yourself there you’re standing above 26,000 feet on Mt Everest in an area known as the death zone.
Dan Mazur was there last year. A thousand feet and around two hours from achieving the dream of conquering the summit.
Just ten days before Dan and his two colleagues made it to 28,000 feet, a British climber had died near by. Around forty climbers who could have helped the dying man chose not to. They passed him on their way to the top.
But early this morning with the summit so close Dan spotted a lone figure sitting on a razor edge ridge. Approaching him, Dan discovered his name was Lincoln Hall and he was in a bad way.
Twelve hours earlier Lincoln had been left for dead and after spending a night in twenty-below chill was still alive. Dan came face to face with a miracle.
He was also face to face with a choice. Abandon their dream or abandon Aussie climber Lincoln Hall?
Interestingly most people who die on Everest, die on the way down. It’s treacherous. Dan and his two mates knew the risks of trying to take the extra weight of a dying man down to receive the medical attention he so desperately needed.
But that’s what they chose. They turned their back on their dream and inched their way down the mountain. What would you have done if you were Dan? $65,000 US dollars each, years of training and planning and so close to the summit.
I’m sure you, like me would like to think we would have chosen the right option.
When you think about it, we face fork-in-the-road type choices every day. Not on mountaintops, but in our homes, at work or university and wherever we are.
Most of our choices are between me and my obligations or agenda, and the needs of others in our world. How many times do we miss opportunities to do good and lighten someone else’s load, because we’re too busy heading for the summit of our needs and responsibilities?
It’s not easy. But it produces more light in the darkness of our world. It puts a smile on the face of those we pause to serve. It also puts a song in our heart.
Tags: Responsibility, Life, Choices, Success.
