How Optimism Helps Me Overcome Obstacles Just before my waking hours, I found myself silently regarding an abyssal expans

e that lay below me, but on the far side of the precipice, a marble balcony glea med in nonexistent light. The end was so near, yet hopelessly far beyond reach. Coming to a final decision, I retraced my steps, sprinted, and sprang off the edge a leap of faith. I remember sailing through the air, a fingers breadth away from the white railing , before I was lost to a rational world. The way I perceive it, optimism is having the conviction to continue forward and daring to achieve the impossible. Stated by TIME Magazine, evolutionary researc h has shown that, without optimism, our ancestors might never have ventured far f rom their tribes and we might all be cave dwellers, still huddled together and d reaming of light and heat. In fact, scientists have concluded that optimism had b een hardwired into the human brain through the course of evolution. Over the last few centuries, much of that mindset has been demonstrated by vario us individuals, but only one man has truly inspired me to overcome obstacles wit h optimism. I had taken a knife and etched into the wall four letters of my nameand I etched, October 75 above my name. And then I etched April 03 below my name. And I wr ote, R.I.P. right there. Aron Ralston Right arm pinned by an 800-pound boulder and trapped 100 feet below ground level for 6 days, Ralston was prepared to die on his 5th night in Blue John Canyon. H e left a video recording to his parents, carved his own epitaph, and waited in d arkness. Mom and Dad, I really love you guys. I wanted to take this chance to say that the times weve spent together have been awesome I love you. Ill always b e with you. Surprisingly, Aron Ralston lived to see the daylight shining through the five fo ot crevice directly above. While Ralston idly chipped at the rock which held his arm, using a dull knife from a multi-tool, he gashed the thumb of his dysfuncti onal hand. Only then did he realize that his arm was decomposing while still att ached to his body. Appalled, he lashed about desperately, twisting and turning i n his futile efforts to liberate himself. Then, when he saw how tightly the limb was caught, Ralston was hit by an epiphan y and saw hope in his survival. Days prior, he found out, in his first attempt a t amputation, that his knife yielded mere scratches, let alone cut through bone. But by twisting his body and forcing his arm against the boulder, the bottom bo ne snapped. He repeated the procedure, this time applying downward pressure, and moments later he heard a CRACK as the top bone snapped as well. Ralstons final task was to sever what remained of his arm. The larger blade from the multi-tool had already rendered bent and dull from days of stabbing at the r ock, so he switched to a small, but slightly sharper, 2-inch blade. Layer by lay er, Aron Ralston cut past skin, hacked away muscle, sliced through arteries, and using the pliers from the multi-tool, ripped out his tendons. Then he saw the n erve. One touch sent excruciating pain and fire along his arm. The agony redoubl ed as he repeatedly plucked at the spaghetti-like apparatus with his knife until

he stumbled backbecause he was free. Life is a road comprised of numerous forks along the way. We come across one, an d were always presented two choices: to remain with the knowledge of a certain fu ture that awaits or to take a leap of faith, and allow ourselves to venture into the winding paths of the unknown. Optimism is placing trust in achieving the un imaginable, and having the sheer willpower to persist when all else seems lost. Optimism has affected me in ways that even in my darkest hours, Ive managed to cr awl out of oblivion, dazed, but eager to continue my journey on unfamiliar terra in.