Be Prepared

On a cold January day the water in the Hudson River is between the freezing point and way too cold. No one would dare enter the waters by their own volition especially not on day when the wind temperature hovers in the single digits. On January 15^th 2008 US Airways flight 1549 out of LaGuardia would meet such a fate landing in the frigid waters just 6 minutes after leaving the frozen tarmac. The Airbus A320, without possibility of averting hit a flock of birds that disabled the two engines. The pilot told the passengers to “Prepare for impact!” before the aircraft glided on the flowing river just off Manhattan’s West 48^th Street. The frigid touch-down was the first non-fatal jetliner emergency water landing in 50 years of commercial flight, all 155 aboard survived. Ironically, the pilot, a 57 year old Chesley “Sully” B. Sullenberger III is also the founder of Safety Reliability Methods, a firm describing itself as a “technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries”. Interestingly enough the hero for all 155 passengers on flight 1549 to Charlotte is a man that was prepared and in the time of peril was able to awaken the skills needed for this catastrophe.

Often a situation will arise when we will need to call on our skills to get us out of a peculiar or difficult position. The question is are we ready, have we developed the necessary skills needed for the event? This is a difficult question to answer as we don’t really know what that event is going to be. I would imagine out of the 155 passengers on that flight to Charlotte none of them believed they would be rescued from the benumbed waters of the Hudson 30 minutes after takeoff. A lesson must be seized from the example of this heroic pilot, one that should motivate and inspire.

The talents that you bear must be utilized, enlarged and practiced. There needs to be effort and thought with a strong dose of desire to become better and possibly even great. Take time to analyze your life, discover your talents, and begin the endless journey of growth. One of the greatest joys comes from accomplishment and sweeter is the achievement when it’s founded on a job well done. Magnify your talent to be prepared when that ability is called up to something great as was Sully’s on a cold January morning.