Saturday, September 25, 2010

LIVESTRONG

My recently read book is Lance Armstrong's, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. Yes I'm still in this autobiography phase and I like it.
It was interesting reading about his cancer and what he had to do to get through it. I never knew any details, just that he survived cancer and went on to win the Tour de France 7 times in a row. But I love hearing the details behind the story, same goes with Andre Agassi's autobiography. My only complaint is that I thought Andre Agassi had much better voice in his writing than Lance Armstrong. And maybe that's because Lance's book is written with Sally Jenkins. It just didn't feel like he was the one telling the story, not as personal.

But as always I'll share something I liked. He told this joke near the end of his book

"A man is caught in a flood, and as the water rises he climbs to the roof of his house and waits to be rescued. A guy in a motorboat comes by, and he says, 'Hop in, I'll save you.'
  'No, thanks,' the man on the rooftop says. 'My Lord will save me.'
But the floodwaters keep rising. A few minutes later, a rescue plane flies overhead and the pilot drops a line.
 'No, thanks,' the man on the rooftop says. 'My Lord will save me.'
But the floodwaters rise ever higher, and finally, they overflow the roof and the man drowns.
  When he gets to heaven, he confronts God.
 'My Lord, why didn't you save me?' he implores.
 'You idiot,' God says. 'I sent you a boat, I sent you a plane.'
I think in a way we are all just like the guy on the rooftop. Things take place, there is a confluence of events and circumstances, and we can't always know their purpose, or even if there is one. But we can take responsibility for ourselves and be brave."

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