Life, on May 21, 2016, presented Leslie John Binns, the British ex-serviceman, with a dilemma just about 450m away from the summit at Mount Everest. He was at a crossroads: whether to go for fulfillment of his long cherished dream of climbing the highest peak in the world, creating a history, and fulfilling his dream, or, to save the life of a fellow mountaineer, Sunita Hazra, an Indian woman, who had scaled the Mount Everest a little while ago, giving up on his dream. He had a very difficult choice to make, on the one side was glory of being one of those who had the rare distinction of climbing successfully the highest peak in the world and on the other side it was a call to save the life of a fellow mountaineer. And, he chose to save the life of the fellow mountaineer. Please click here to read the complete news item.
What does the difficult choice made by Leslie Binns tell us about him, his character, and values that guided him to make the crucial decision that saved a human life? Character, to me, is the sum total of values, the prime motivators deep within. Values that we live by, define who we are, what our character is like, and help us arrive at a decision. How we respond to a difficult and challenging situation brings out our character.
Leslie Binns, I believe, was being driven by values like Courage, Compassion, Kindness, Sacrifice, and Service. You could, perhaps, add some more values that helped him arrive at that crucial decision. He displays abundant courage to sacrifice his long cherished dream. He is compassionate, kind, and willing to serve to help save a fellow being. These values amply show who he is and what his character is like.
Leslie John Binns
I salute Leslie Binns for his act of bravery, compassion, kindness, service and sacrifice. May God help him fulfill his dream of scaling Mt Everest soon.
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