“My father always trained me to stay calm in the storm.” Pg.
286
Norm releases this statement during a very tense part of the
book. Currently, Norm is at the base of a mountain he just descended from and
is starting to lose his energy as he tries to find something to keep him alive.
The snow he traveling on is covering a dense bush creates sink hole like
structures in the snow when stepped on because of all the empty space below the
snow. The winds are howling at hurricane force and the 4,000ft elevation
temperature is surely below 20 regardless of the wind chill. After descending
from the plane crash he was just involved with, it is easy to see that 10 year
old Norm could be pretty stressed out right now. Norm’s father raised him to
become mature quick. He was always dragging him out of bed early to take him on
ski or surf excursions and constantly pushed him out of his comfort zone
whenever they were out together. This ties in with the quote because it’s all
those uncomfortable situations that Norm was thrown into by his father that
help him survive this terrible accident.
I believe this training is very crucial for not only people
that participate in activities with high risks but for everybody in general. The
man who can out of a dire situation the quickest and most efficiently is the
stronger man. The man who can survive the longest without any resources is the
stronger man. To do this, one has to be trained to stay calm. Stress and panic
block out sections in one’s brain that need to be easily accessible during
times of high risk. Life defying decisions need to be made in a situation like
Norm was put into, with no room for error. If he hadn't of kept his mind clear
during all of this he would have not remembered all of the backcountry tips his
father has taught him over the years and many other things. Norm eventually
makes his way out of this mess which some may consider a miracle. Personally,
this seems to me like a perfect example of hard work pays off. These situations
mix in with humanity not as often as they used to. I believe that the loss of
survival instincts contributes to the loss of the original mankind. Everybody
should train to stay calm in the storm.
John-Luc,
ReplyDeleteThis is thoughtful in and of itself, but I was confused while I was reading it because it doesn't seem to be taking place during _The Perfect Storm_, which is what I thought you were reading right now. Are you reading something else? If so, can you please explain what? I still need you to go back and add a plan for the quarter so I can follow along here.
John-Luc,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. It is scary to think about a ten year old having to go through such an intense situation. I was curious to see if you could relate what you read to your life. Obviously, I don't think you've been in such a dire situation, but can you think of any examples in which hard work and intense focus has paid off in your life? I think if you could make connections between your life and the literature you're reading, your post would be even more thoughtful and interesting.
Good luck!
-Ms. Favor