Three drawbacks of grabbing at any opportunity:

Making choices based in fear

Not thinking it through and still having to live with the consequences

Working too hard for what should be easily within our grasp

I went into the sea, into deadly water, to help another. He responded by grabbing any part of me he could reach, although I begged him not to. Until finally he grabbed me under and I in turn grabbed at anything I could reach and almost drowned us both in my fear of the bitter sea.

I had not thought when I dove in that he was larger than I, more desperate than I, and in fear of his life. I had not thought of anything other than grabbing the opportunity to do good and to make myself a hero.

That didn’t work worth a damn.

It took others to find us both down deep where our struggle had taken us. Others to separate and return us to the air and to life. Others to put themselves at risk.

I hadn’t noticed the life ring and rope nearby. The one I dove over to get to the man. The means which had been placed there so that someone could easily and thoughtfully aid another.

I grabbed the opportunity to fail rather than the opportunity to help.

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