This truth I could not bear…

Last night, I watched Tom Brokaw and Aron Ralston recount a horrible ordeal that happened to Aron back in 2003. You may have heard of this story as it made world news.

Essentially what happened is Aron made a fatal mistake. He went out hiking in the backcountry of Utah without telling a single living soul where he was going or when he’d be back. With that, when he got into life-threatening trouble, he knew the odds of getting rescued were slim to none.

While canyoneering, a boulder dislodged as he was trying to climb over it and as it fell, it pinned his hand against the narrow canyon. Aron was unable to free his hand no matter how hard he tried. He chiseled away at the boulder to no avail, and tried to dislodge it again but it simply didn’t work.

After days and days of struggling to get free and running out of food and water, he realized he was going to die alone in this canyon. His hope to get rescued was barely a thought. He was very up front with himself and faced the facts that he probably wouldn’t survive. He bravely faced his inevitable death.

I was amazed at Aron’s candidness and honesty with himself. He was brutally honest with himself during the entire ordeal. The Discovery Channel aired actual taped footage of Aron as he thought he was going to die because he couldn’t come up with a way to free himself. While he had thought about amputating his own arm, his knife wasn’t sharp enough to break the bones.

Watching actual footage of Aron, I forced myself to look inside. Could I be that honest with myself?

I sat there and doubted I could be. I think I may have found my honesty limit. I am honest, super honest — very up front and open about reality in life with everyone I know — including myself– but if I were faced with this situation, I don’t think I could have looked the truth in the eye. I think I would have turned away in denial. I wouldn’t have been able to cope.

Aron finally had the realization in the final hours that he could either break his own arm bones and hack off his arm with a little dull knife — or he could wait for death. He decided to snap his own arm bones — and then hack away the muscles, skin and nerves until he was free and able to start the long journey back to his truck.

Can you imagine??

The guy amazed me. He was so candid about his mortality and his options to survive. I don’t believe most people have this spirit. Maybe it is the spirit that keeps him climbing like he does. That spirit is not typical. Aron was able to face everything for what it was… down to the rotting, decaying flesh that was once his hand. I was in awe.

Somehow while I am honest and able to deal with most everything in life — death is not one of them. I don’t think I will be able to face death with as much grace as Aron did. He is truly a unique character who has shown me my limits…