Originally a Facebook post, I decided to also share it here.
Hey. I’ve been thinking about the state of our country and the world, and wanted to share part of my experience in the lake because it is a good metaphor for now, and it is my deep belief that compassion is the great equalizer.
For those of you that don’t know, I saved a young man from drowning in a private lake and nearly drowned in the process myself. He is a refugee from Ethiopia.
When I found myself at the bottom of the lake being drowned by the very person I had come to help, I thought my life was over because I was being beaten and drowned at the same time. But then I got really angry and decided it wasn’t my time yet because I hadn’t fully done what I had come to do in this life time.
Somehow that anger and that choice got me from the bottom of the lake to the top so I could catch my breath in between being pushed under.
I saw his face so close to mine, filled with such immense fear it still makes me cry writing about it, the feeling of death so close, and his intense fight to keep from drowning.
A funny thing happened, in his face, I saw mine. Two different people with two different choices for being in the very same spot, and everything I saw in his face I felt in me. I was no different than him, we were equal.
He had me in a tight grip around my neck and kept pushing me down to get himself out of the water. I knew if I fought him physically, we would both die. So, I kept calm and each time I got my head above the water, I looked him in the eye and repeated, “let go of me and I’ll take your hand.” Over and over again this happened.
Here’s the thing, in order for both of us to live, we each needed the other to do something that felt impossible in that moment. I needed him to let go of me, and he needed to trust me enough to let go a fraction of a second so I could grab him safely by his hand (I actually took his wrist) and start to swim with him flailing behind me towards the shore.
I would not be here today if he didn’t surrender enough for me to help him, and he would not be here today if I hadn’t kept my word that I would reach out and take his hand.
Folks, we are like the two of us in that lake right now. Flailing about, not realizing how interconnected we really are, and we all have to find a way to make it to a new shore or we will drown in our hate.
You never know what seemingly impossible feats you are capable when you realize compassion is the great equalizer and that the “other side” has just as much fear as you do, and in order to survive we must learn to work together.
I have no idea what that looks like at the moment. For me, I do know I choose life, I choose love, I choose humanity and the power of reaching out.
This is the second blog post in a series of life lessons from the lake.
Copyright: weerapat / 123RF Stock Photo
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