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We choose to go to the Moon, not because it is easy but because it is hard! Faced with a challenge, people react and respond differently with some of the most unsuspecting people coming forward to grasp the opportunity they see in sometimes, death defying situations. We see this in civilian life in a variety of situations where stress and exertion levels are at their highest and life is perceived to be on the line, or in some instances, death is the cost of failure. A mountaineer, Chris Bonnington, was asked why he insisted on climbing Everest without oxygen when it was certain he would die if he spent too long at that altitude. His response was deeply meaningful: Im not going there to die. Im going there to live! It is at the extreme envelope of performance and risk that we perhaps gain a true insight into our own and other peoples characters. When stress has been applied to individuals and teams, so that they are reaching breaking point, some will pass through such a barrier and continue on to deliver truly unique and exceptional performance while many others baulk at the challenge and fail. What makes one person out of many tackle the obstacle as if it were an opportunity? What Factor X allows one person or group to prevail in such situations where failure seems assured? This has been the subject of much study and conjecture from the 300 Spartans defending the Hot Gates at Thermopylae against the Persian hordes of King Xerxes to Neil Armstrong making that one small step for mankind. There is no single outstanding factor we can point to which if seen in someone will guarantee that they are the horse to back in extreme situations. It is as if the problem itself plays a part in bringing out the best in people at that time and in that place. What this tells us about ourselves is that we can never say never. Thos e who have faced and beaten the long odds are those who have never given up trying and who managed to think through the obstacles presented while committing themselves to action. The idea and sense of a challenge is integral to our mental make-up and characters man thrives on challenges whether it is simply getting up to go to work each day or sitting atop a rocket on the way to the Moon. One aspect of such extreme challenges is that once they have been mastered, they no longer hold the respect in the minds of others that they once enjoyed there is talk of returning to the Moon some 40 years after men first walked on it, but the real challenge is not the Moon today but going to Mars. Perhaps one reason why some people defy the longest of odds to win is simply to find out what the next great challenge there is on the horizon.
Article Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.net Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.net/self_improvement.php/219121 Article Added on Friday, February 26, 2010
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