Words to Live By

Watching earthquake coverage on CCTV Xinwen (CCTV's news channel) the other night, I witnessed something that shook me to the core.

A trapped Sichuanese woman waiting for rescue workers to dig her out told cameras poking down into her hole (in Chinese):

"I knew you would come to save me. When I heard voices nearby, I would call for help. When I did not hear voices, I would conserve my strength. I'm so happy and grateful you're here."

What amazing, courageous words, and, if one truly considers it, an incredible prescription for living not just through earthquakes but through anything: she preserved hope through fear, she identified the situations in which her effort might be rewarded and in which situations it was best to stay silent and wait, and she expressed gratitude for the chance she had been given rather than questioning why it hadn't come earlier...or whether someone could just get the damn building off her back already.