We Can Do It Too

 Email this story

Print

1 Comment

A week ago the world watched in awe as thirty three Chilean miners were rescued from underground after being trapped for so long. What makes this story even more amazing is the combination of incredible inner strength demonstrated by the miners and the fantastic effort by the rescuers outside.

Rabbi Michol Gourarie photo: Henry Benjamin

The miners displayed the infinite power of human character. These were ordinary people who dug deep and uncovered a smorgasbord of hidden powers of inner strength, resilience, determination and superb cooperation and camaraderie with each other.

But they could never have survived this ordeal on their own. The achievements of the rescue team are no less amazing. The determination to save the trapped miners and the communication between the two groups is in itself heroic and deserving of world recognition.

Unfortunately, we always seem to wait for disaster to expose the beauty and strength of the human soul.  Perhaps now is a good time to do more than just express our admiration for the miners and their rescue team. We too can resolve to tap into these inner resources, without having to face extreme circumstances.

From time to time we all get caught and trapped in our own underground mines. Relationship conflict, complacency, addiction, pessimism, anger or jealousy are just a few examples of the dark caves that we get caught in. If we choose to hang on to our old ways of thinking we remain stuck. But we don’t have to. Like the miners, we can:

a)      Tap into  our  inner strength with renewed will and determination to shift our mindset and to have the desire to be rescued

b)      Reach out to others for help – with a bit of effort we will discover a great support team who (if we are willing to take advice and cooperate) can lift us out of darkness

Don’t just marvel at the story and walk away impressed – become part of the experience yourself.