One spring, a small group of Inuit hunters embarked
on what was supposed to be a ten-day seal-hunting trip.
Many days out in the wilderness, tragedy struck when they hit soft ice.
One of the dog teams and a few of the men plunged into the frigid water.
One of the men died, and the others, including my friend Ben, were
severely frostbitten. It was many days until they were rescued.
Ben was a robust man of 65, and this accident
resulted in both legs being amputated just below
the knees. A few weeks later, I visited him in a
hospital in Montreal where he was being fitted
for his prosthetics. Ben, like many Inuit of his
generation, was a short man. I spoke to the
nurse just before going in to see him. She
quipped that Ben had asked that the prosthetics
be longer so that he could gain a couple of
inches in height. Ben always had a rascally
sense of humor, and then again, at some level,
he may have been quite serious.
This remarkable man, an elder in his community, was born in an igloo,
and had lived a full life. Rather than being depressed about his loss of
mobility, here he was ready to seize a rare opportunity. How many of us
are watching for opportunities that cross our awareness every day?
A friend of mine needed a new car. With a limited budget, she asked her
mechanic to keep his eyes open for something sound and inexpensive. He
found her a used Dynasty. She had never heard of that car before, but
purchased it on his advice. Once she began driving it, she started
noticing many of those same models on the road. They were always there,
but had never been within her sphere of awareness.
It's the same with opportunities. The Law of Attraction states that what
we put our attention, energy, and focus on will come into our life.
These opportunities are all around us. All we have to do is be open to
detecting them.
Ben was a robust man of 65, and this accident