Recently the world learned that a 20 year old person with a history of mental illness entered Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, with an AK-47 and 500 rounds of ammunition. At risk were the many students of the school.
Gunshots were fired at the police and the young man indicated To Antoinette Tuff the bookkeeper at the school that he was going to die that day.
Ms. Tuff, a bookkeeper had just relieved the secretary of the school. Despite security measures that required the door to be buzzed open, the young man entered the school while the door was open to allow an authorized parent to pass thru.
Giving the credit to God for the ability to talk the gunman into turning himself in, without harm to any of the students, the accompanying interview with Ms. Tuff is well worth taking the few minutes to listen to it.
There are several lessons to be learned here.
One is to remain calm in the face of danger. This as you know is often harder than it sounds and requires a tremendous amount of faith in your ability and that of a higher power. No matter the situation, action is required, but measured and with a purpose, it can be quite effective.
Two, genuine empathy and concern for your fellow man can produce amazing results. Notice that it is empathy and not sympathy that is at the base of the action in this case.
Three, faith in a superior being and in your abilities are at the heart of the matter. Ms. Tuff had experienced some difficult issues in her life and was able to understand how the gunman was feeling. She used her personal circumstances to relate to the gunman who was in desperate need of understanding.
Despite the circumstances of her life, Ms. Tuff has made the decision to move on and do so in a positive manner. There is a lot that can be learned from this example alone. Make the decision in your life that you too are going to move forward. Make the decision that you are going to put effort into improving not only your life, but others that you are placed in position to help. Be prepared!
Click the link below to read the story and listen to the amazing interview that saved a school full of innocent children. You will be amazed and blessed.
http://gawker.com/how-one-woman-talked-the-would-be-georgia-school-shoote-1178217739
May your day be blessed