Adversity...

You know, when the chips are down it is amazing what people will do for others.

Of course naturally we would give our lives for our own children, because the love we have for them is unconditional; and we would kill to protect them as well...in fact I don't know of any loving parent who wouldn't.

Although the story I heard this week was not quite the same as killing or laying your life on the line for someone else, but about a young lad who really showed how much he cared for someone else.

Last Monday evening we had quite a downfall of snow here...and now being British, we can't handle any weather that is beyond our usual down pouring of rain, so the snow caught many people unawares. There were stories of people having to abandon their cars because they were unable to get up hills or because of accidents, and consequently other people were left stranded in their cars for many hours refusing to leave them.

Many people got out of their cars to help push stranded motorists to try and get people going again, and there is always a sense of team spirit in situations like these.

A colleague at work was telling me this week about her niece who also got stuck in the snow, and ended up stranded on the bus coming home from work for over three hours due to the traffic chaos. Her young boyfriend was worried about her and setting off with his dad in the car to go and get her, they themselves managed to get stuck in the snow and could go no further.

So this young lad, got out of the car and jogged the rest of the way taking him an hour and a half to run about six miles in his plimsoles, to ensure that he could walk her home safely and that she was ok.

There are other stories I have heard this week about other people who in the face of adversity, have risen to a challenge that they thought they wouldn't normally have done. Women who have gone above and beyond to support their husbands; friends who have put other friends first knowing that they will themselves suffer in some way...we are quite an amazing race really.

When the love of another person means that you will face any adversity and deal with it, in order to protect that special person in your life, then there really is no more admirable quality.

Except perhaps...unconditional love itself.