My Thoughts
Many have seen the movie "127 Hours"; it is a true story about a man named Aron Ralston who had to cut off his own arm to break free of the boulder that broke loose and fell on it while he was hiking though his favorite trails. Who knew that a child who feared of Colorado's great mountainous terrain would grow up to be a man with this kind of experience. This book is the true definition of a "page turner". At times, I had to literally force myself to stop reading. This novel was so inspiring and has taught me so many things. One of them being to never give up on any challenge that comes in my way. Even though Ralston was totally convinced he was not going to break free from the rock, he never gave up. He resorted to the worst case scenario of cutting off his own arm with a knife he used earlier to chip away the rock. Doing this made the knife very dull, which made the pain even that more excruciating. This gives me encouragement to conquer any obstacle that come rolling into my life. This book has also taught me to prepare for anything that can happen. Ralston goes on a hike through his regular canyon trails, which he does fairly often. But, this time, he doesn't tell anyone where he is going. This was a crucial mistake because when he did not return days after he was expected to, his family sent out search and rescue teams to locate him but they had no idea where to start looking. It was truly a miracle that he was found because the helicopter that found him was on its last go around though the canyon when he was finally spotted. Another thing I have learned is that sacrifices have to be made in order to accomplish what you need to. One thing that Ralston had to do was drink his own urine to try and hydrate himself. Another thing that he had to sacrifice was his arm. After multiple tries to break free of the rock, nothing was working. He tried making pulleys, lifting the rock with his knees, and chipping away at the rock with his pocket knife. The thing that really engages me is that this all actually happened. It's hard to think that while we were all living our own lives, this man was it this life threatening situation. I respect Ralston because of his mental and physical strength to be able to be stuck to a rock for 5 and a half days and still be able to come out alive. If you haven't done so already, go to your local library and be sure to pick up Between a Rock and a Hard Place. You will fall in love with it just like I did.