Three Cups of Tea (57-90)

Greg Mortenson goes to third world countries in the middle east and builds schools. He has to travel great distances by very treacherous means, but does not give up. In this scene he is almost at a village, but has to go through a mountain pass and cross a roaring river.

The jeep stopped next to a zamba, swaying over the Shyok, and Mortenson got out He'd never been comfortable crossing these yak-hair bridges, since they were engineered to support Balti half his weight. And when Akhmalu and Changazi piled on behind him, shaking the structure violently, he struggled to keep his feet beneath him. Mortenson grasped the twin handrails and shuffled his size-fourteen feet tightrope-walker-style along the single braded strand between him and the rapids fifty feet below. The zamba was slick with spray, and he concentrated so successfully on his feet that he didn't notice the crowd waiting to greet him on the far bank until he was nearly upon them

This can be applied to our lives. Although not all of us have life threatening situations that keep us from saving the world, we have day to day struggles that keep us from the right thing. Mortenson didn't have to go to the middle east, he could have found a normal job in America. He chose to go there, he chose to face all of those dangers, so that he could help the lives of the children there. We all should look to Mortenson as an example. We need to take a deep breath and go across our rope bridges to greet the people on the other side, and make a difference in their lives.

Mortenson, Greg, and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time. New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007. Print.