I can be pretty determined about certain things and I also think of myself as a bit of a survivor. I would also describe myself as a strong person but all those words and phrases take on a different meaning in the context of the film 'Touching the Void' which I watched last night on TV. Although I had bought the book for Alan last Christmas, I only had a brief idea of what the story was but last night I watched it unfold and I was continually on the edge of my seat.
Joe Simpson, assumed dead, after a horrific climbing accident managed to make it back to camp against all the odds, the biggest odd being his very badly broken leg! After emerging from a huge crevasse, he is elated at what he has achieved and the fact that he has come out of a place where he thought he would die but that elation soon turns to despair when he realises just how far he has still to go and the huge barriers that are ahead of him. The task ahead was awesome and how often are the tasks that we face awesome. The big picture, so useful and inspiring in some cases, is what often works against us because of its enormity. The great coaching in this film was the fact that he realised that he was only going to achieve anything by breaking the entire task into smaller pieces and dealing with it bit by bit. So he set himself challenges of getting from where he was to a certain point in 20 minutes. In this way he managed to succeed. Wow! - I was pretty speechless at the end and I found myself pondering the synchronicity in places and at times. My advice is to get the video or DVD and watch it yourself, I'd be interested in your thoughts.
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