I know it has been awhile since you last heard from me, but I wanted to share with you a rather dramatic and lovely thing that occurred recently involving some of my family members. It’s a story I think you will find inspiring.
My sister and brother-in-law were on a family vacation in Florida a few weeks ago. One day when my brother-in-law, Rick, and his daughter were swimming out in the ocean, my niece alerted her Dad that she thought something was urgently wrong on the beach. Rick took off swimming and could see that my sister, Karen, was also sprinting toward the gathering crowd on the beach.
The urgently wrong thing that was happening on that beach was that a drowned man had been pulled from the water.
The extraordinary synchronicity in this tragic event is that Rick is an amazing emergency physician (head of trauma at Vanderbilt University Hospital) and Karen is a retired, incredibly competent critical care cardiac nurse. Once they both reached the man, they took turns delivering CPR finally sparking a pulse and getting his heart started again. They had to work to get him stabilized to the best of their ability under the circumstances since the emergency ambulance was having trouble getting to the beach. Even so, once the man was safely off to the hospital, neither Rick nor Karen knew whether this man would ultimately survive.
But this is a true miracle story.
The man not only survived. He is healing and he lived to see another Father’s Day this past Sunday surrounded by his family.
The story was so heartwarming that it made it into several newspapers within the last few days including USA Today. You can read the full story here.
My call to action for you is this =>?You may think that something this dramatically impactful can only happen to trained professionals like my relatives. But heroism is not reserved for a select few and there is a truth in understanding this for those of you concerned about your purpose in life.
Any one of us may be called upon to use our “super powers” – to express our gifts, skills and talents to help another…from the smallest kindnesses to literally saving a life.
Opportunities for everyday heroism can happen at any moment!
You may be thinking that you are clueless about your innate, purposeful resources which would enable you to be of value making meaningful contributions. Here’s what I know about uncovering your super powers. They are often hiding in plain sight.
I love this simple way to discover your unique gifts:
- Pick 3 to 5 people you trust to give you truthful positive feedback. (This is important. Don’t pick people who would even subtly downplay your abilities.)
- Ask these friends, family members, professional associates, etc. to share with you the ways in which you impact their lives beneficially. I have found this exercise to be a very insightful for myself and for my clients over the years. For example, finding out from trusted friends, family and clients that my unique ability to consistently calm them down has influenced how I work in the world. I also have a greater awareness of how a soothing presence can even support strangers who cross my path on any given day.
So I invite you to claim YOUR super power(s) and confidently be the hero in your own life. We never know when we will be called upon to make a difference in someone’s life.
