Sixteen minutes. That's how long my medevac flight lasted.
I remember making a decision in that helicopter: I was in such pain that I wanted to close my eyes in hopes of avoiding it. As difficult as it was, I made the decision not to. Had I closed my eyes, it would have been for the very last time.
As I look back, I realize it was God who gave me the strength in that moment.
Mine wasn’t the only decision made during that sixteen-minute flight: the flight nurses and the pilot did whatever was necessary to save my life. No hesitation, no half-effort. They gave it their all.
It was the sixteen minutes that changed my life forever. It was the decisions made during those moments that impacted not only my life, but—through the ripple effect—the lives of others as well.
We all know someone who’s quietly made the decision to “do just enough to get by”—at work, at home, in a relationship. Just enough. Maybe it’s the person who hates their job but shows up every day and spreads the misery with their coworkers and customers. Maybe it’s the couple who fight about money but never sit down to create a budget and follow it. Maybe it’s the person who’s overweight and it’s negatively impacting their health but doesn’t change their eating or exercising habits. None of those people lack the ability to change. They’ve just never made the decision to.
After my numerous surgeries, I was discharged to a medical rehab hospital for physical, cognitive, and speech therapy. My therapists told me, more than once, how nice it was to work with a patient who genuinely wanted to get better—someone who’d do whatever it took.
I made the decision to return to normal as quickly as was reasonable, and—session after session—I went outside my comfort zone to accomplish that. My therapists said most patients were content to do just enough to get by—nothing more. Same team helping them—but a very different outcome, because the decision underneath it all was different.
I won't pretend I make that decision every day. I'm human.
You don’t need to wait for a major event in your life to decide to do whatever it takes, not only what’s comfortable.
Ruminate on this: If nothing changes, nothing changes.