Skip to main content

Personification of calm

While watching Good Morning America a few days ago, I saw a harrowing video from Houston TX. It was an eyewitness video of a fire at a construction site of an apartment building. On the fifth story was a construction worker stranded while the fire raged on a few feet away from him. The video contained the audio of the filmer’s panicked voice, as she watched helplessly through a window across from the construction site. My heart leapt as I watched the construction worker swung like a professional acrobat to the lower level balcony away from the fire. Just when the fire ladder reached him and he crawled  onto the rungs, the fifth floor’s blazing wall collapsed.
Thankfully, the construction worker got off of the balcony alive. As I watched other news channels of this same video (it was much easier to watch knowing that is would end in good news) I was struck by how calm and methodical the construction worker was in this moment of crisis. He really inspired me step by step on how to handle any crisis that I may face:
·         Don’t panic—he was surrounded by a wall of fire, yet he appeared calm and in control.
·         Assess the situation-- he knew he had to remove himself from that balcony stat.
·         Don’t  be afraid to ask for help—he waved towards the firefighter who was bringing the ladder close to him safely
·         Trust in your abilities—he confidently swung himself onto the next floor balcony and hopped on the ladder that eventually took him to safety without a moment’s hesitation

Hopefully, I won’t be in the exact situation as this brave construction worker was, but I will remember this news story as a true life lesson. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How's the haircut?

Isn't it amazing how a bad memory can stick to you like a wad of gum in your hair? You try to remove it, but in order to do that, you need to cut off some of your hair? At first, you’re apprehensive, but in the process, you end up with a nice hair style? At the beginning of my career, I was working at an apartment complex.  I must have upset my boss by interrupting him when he spoke to me.  I hadn't realized I was in a bad habit of talking over him. I was so anxious to prove I was on top of all the assignments, but in this process, wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise. One day, he held up an eyeglass case and said this signified when it was his time to talk. In front of the other staff, he actually held up the case while he spoke to me. I was embarrassed by his demeaning ways. I didn't put any credence in his opinion. I wrote him off as being a mean old man! For a while, I carried this memory like a wad of hardened gum in my hair. It was brittle and would have...
Post a Comment
Read more

Just a note

If you visit my website, you can now read the first chapter of my book for free! Please feel free to click on its link below: website All I ask is please leave me a comment. Even to just say "hello" so I know that some people are reading it! Thanks everyone, and I'll talk with you later!! Diane
Post a Comment
Read more

Lessons from Teachers

Many times when people talk about the teachers they have encountered in their schools, usually the lessons have been of the traditional sort.   A teacher has done or said something inspiring that has changed their lives for the better.   Actually, I have had a teacher show a negative trait that was a positive life lesson to me.   She was my seventh grade teacher.   She was a very large woman—she had to make her own clothes to fit her.   Not only was her physique large, but also her personality.   She was a very aggressive and no-nonsense woman.     “You can’t get away with anything in Miss C class!”   was the comment we heard from previous teachers and older students.   When she hosted detention, she made a sign to put on the clock that read: “Time passes—will you?”             Being in her class, she made it very clear that she was the boss.   Now, most of the time, she wa...
1 comment
Read more