Heroes Not Zombies

Here’s an interesting article you can read at timesonline. It’s about the writer Colin Thubron. He says that he had a car accident back in 1978 and fractured his spine, some ribs and dislocated his shoulder. As a result he ended up in hospital for a few weeks.

The enforced idleness of lying flat on my back in hospital sent my mind into overdrive; I became more and more of a megalomaniac, and there was now some element of wanting to confront the fear. I decided there must be something bigger to write about, and I conceived the idea of walking the Great Wall of China and driving round Russia. Those ambitions were what kept me afloat. The Russian book was my first success, and it might not have happened without the accident. I don’t think the accident changed the trajectory of my emotional life, but it left me with a greater sense of my own vulnerability, and the need to maximise whatever time is left.

There are a number of points there which caught my attention. First of all, none of us would choose to have a serious accident, just like none of us would choose to be ill. But stuff happens! Accidents, illness and death don’t always happen to other people! How you react to the event is what determines the course of life thereafter. For Thubron it was a time of enforced “idleness”. He used the time to reflect on how life was going (holidays and “artist’s dates” are nicer ways to do this than accidents and illness!), and in that reflection decided it was time to think bigger. There’s the second point. He took the time to dream and he dreamt big! That led to what he describes as his “first success”, his book about Russia. Thirdly, look what he says in the final phrase……

but it left me with a greater sense of my own vulnerability, and the need to maximise whatever time is left.

You can be too aware of your vulnerability. Some people I meet are paralysed by insecurity and fear. But some awareness of it is a good thing. It’s a good thing if it leads to what he describes as “the need to maximise whatever time is left.”

Making the most of today. A wise counsel.