Life Has Me by the Ankle!
Josh was not what you would call an adventurer. So everyone was surprised when he accepted an invitation to go rock climbing at Yosemite. The truth of the matter was that Josh’s hearing wasn’t what it used to be, so what he heard instead of, “Do you want to go rock climbing at Yosemite?” was, “Do you want to go to a mock trial on integrity?” Being into simulation games and a practicing lawyer, that was a no brainer. He responded, “Definitely, you can count me in, looking forward to it.“
Of course, once he realized what he really agreed to, he was too proud to admit he had heard it wrong. So here he was one week later ankle totally twisted up in his climbing rope, who knows how many feet hanging upside down above the hard ground, wondering whether he would live to tell the tale.
Josh tried his best to control his breathing. He heard voices above him and below him, screaming to let go of the rope. Were they out of their minds? What kind of friends are these that actually want him to fall. He was smart enough to keep his eyes closed so he wouldn’t see what was going on. Pulling on the rope wasn’t helping, it just made the tangle of rope on his ankle tighter. Hanging upside down blood rushed to his head, he was beginning to lose it. He felt himself slipping lower and lower in short spurts. Was the rope beginning to fray? If the rope broke… His life was not supposed to end like this. He had so many things left to do; after all he was only 28 years old.
Suddenly he felt strong hands grab hold of him. He heard a voice in the distance say, “Josh it is time to cut you loose.”
As he slowly opened his eyes he asked in a quivering voice, “Is this heaven?”
“No,” replied his friend Roger, “We’re still here at the practice wall. Unfortunately for you, the way your ankle looks, it doesn’t look you’ll be going with us to climb Yosemite tomorrow.”
Sometimes life throws you a curve when you’re trying to live your life to the fullest. And sometimes mistakes you make create events that turn out to grant you wishes you never thought would come true. Ain’t life grand?
