Human Imagination Brings with it Heroism

"The great gift of the human imagination is that it has no limits or ending."
- Jim Rohn

I read this quote recently and realized how often it rings through so many things we read or hear in the news. It makes sense when you think about it, considering "news" is usually just that - new - and new happenings or ideas generally come from others using their gift of human imagination past our own limits or ending. As with everything else I've discussed, there's good and bad that can come from this great gift and striking a balance is the true challenge.

One of the top stories in the news this past week was about the U.S.-flagged cargo ship, Maersk, that was taken over by Somali pirates with 20 American sailors that were held hostage. A good example of the positive effects of the human imagination was the ability for those hostages to devise a way to regain control of their ship from the pirates.

Looking within this same example, the Somali pirates were clearly displaying their own ability of human imagination to have attacked the ship in the first place. In fact, even though the American sailors were able to regain control of the ship, the pirates still had the ship's captain to hold for ransom. He heroically turned himself over in exchange for the safety of his shipmates.

Looking back to the good that comes of human imagination was the captain's attempt to escape his captivity by jumping into the water in the middle of the night, unfortunately just be recaptured. By Easter morning, three snipers, taking one shot each, took out three of the four pirates that were guarding the kidnapped captain.

Although this great gift of human imagination may have fueled evil intent of taking over an unarmed ship, it was also that gift of human imagination that allowed "the good guys" to ultimately come out victorious in an otherwise helpless situation. Although there may be no limits to what we can imagine, and accomplish, an even balance of pushing ourselves without overextending ourselves may prove best in the end.