The Kim Family story really grabbed the nation and me. When you hear of stories like this, often people feel as if a goose has walked over their grave. People wonder, what would happen to our family or to me if that ever happened.
Adversity happens. Family catastophes usually happen quietly, sometimes slowly and are not televised. It is a challenge to maintain your own integrity let alone that of an entire family when under incredible stress. Sometimes life throws you a curveball you didn't see coming.
One day, everything is great. You've got a dream job playing with the latest gadgets, you've got a great home and a beautiful family. The next day, you are cold, alone, hungry, tired, lost, desperate in a darkening woods being followed by a large, curious and not necessarily friendly bear. Or two. Oh and BTW, the fate of 3 other people besides yourself rests on your shoulders.
You've found yourself in a situation in which 100% of your money, 100% of your reputation and 90-95% of your education are completely useless. The fact that the Kims survived for nine days alone in the wilderness in winter is pretty amazing but so are most people when they want to be. Having seen family members approach the worst case scenario and survive with their family intact -- a challenging feat, I can perhaps shed a little insight into how the Kims managed to survive that long. Even if James Kim wasn't able to make it all the way, I think he'd be proud that the rest of his family made it.
To survive the family worst case scenario, you need at a minimum:
* Leadership
* A Positive Attitude
* Faith
* Intelligence
* Courage
* Compassion
* Tenacious, Even Grim Determination
* A Limitless Appetite of Self-Sacrifice for the team
* A Sense of Humor, especially when things really get bleak
* A Spirit of Cooperation and Teamwork
I think we all sense that the real miracle is that they didn't find one Kim spouse thrown off a rocky ravine by another Kim spouse and the baby half-eaten. You know what I am talking about. We've all been on that long, long Thanksgiving family drive. Instead, James and Kati Kim pulled themselves and their family together and together saved their little girls under almost unimaginably hostile conditions. May you and I find such strength within when we too are tested.
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