A Friday, a TEDTalk, and perhaps a glimmer of hope.

“if you fall to your left, you’re gonna fall 8,000 feet into Nepal. If you fall to your right, you’ll fall 12,000 feet into Tibet. So, it’s better to fall into Tibet cause you’ll live longer”

perhaps I will just link to the talk in stead of embedding; but to share the point of this talk – “The Power of the Human Mind” – is that a doctor on Mt. Everest watched Beck Weathers, as a climber who had been left for dead for a day and a half, walked into base camp and joked “will you accept my insurance?”. Black humor at it’s best, but somehow Beck’s will to survive achieved just that – his survival.

Our will is a very important thing. Be it in response to Fate’s power to bend your path, the non-deliberate, sub-conscious refusal to acknowledge tragic truths, or just pig-headed stubbornness in realizing “I don’t want to die today”.

And so we might get health care reform on Sunday. What a fabulous spring it will be, as we realize we’re gonna have to work, and sacrifice, and hurt to the things we want. Will we be able to focus our collective will to accomplish greatness, or is it too little way too late?

ciao,
s.